Assassin For Hire
by Fire Demoness Jaganshi
Summary: A young assassin decides she's grown bored with her job. When she turns herself in, Koenma assigns her to the Reikai Tantei. But will her short temper get in the way of their teamwork? summary sucks, but story is better
1. Assassin For Hire

Assassin For Hire

Hi! Fire Demoness Jaganshi here! I know, to my friends that this took a long time to put up, but I never had any time on the computer to type! I'm sorry! But, as a note to anyone who has read my notebooks outside of I've TOTALLY changed the storyline from what it used to be. Don't even think of sending assassins to kill me, because I have my own assassin! MUAHAHAHAHA ! ... ahem ... Anyway, this is NOT a one-shot. I've been planning this for every year I've been in middle school! OF COURSE THIS IS GONNA BE LONGER THAN ONE CHAPTER! Zee-huff. Zee-huff...Continue...

Unbeknownst to the young prince of the Reikai, for it happened in the middle of the night, a young woman intruded on the premises of the Spirit World Prison. The guards were immediately done away with before any of them could call for backup. The maximum security cells had been breached, by this one person. Her clothes blended into the night, black as pitch. As did her hair. She was one of the skilled assassins for hire. And her mission this night? To free the demon, Rando, from his confinement in the Spirit World. His cell had been destroyed. And, as the sirens went off, two figures sped off into the night.

The next morning, the two figures stopped for a rest beside a wood. Rando laughed, freedom was now his. He could continue stealing Psychic's techniques until his heart was content. "I'm so glad you could free me from that dreary prison. Now, we can kill as many humans as we like." Rando stated.

"Woah woah woah. WE? As I recall, there was no 'we' in the job description. Besides, I work alone. I would not lower myself down to your pathetic level. Your weakness disgusts me." The woman snapped.

Rando's anger flared up. "You _dare_ to call me weak! I am the great RANDO! YOU are the weak one!"

" Oh yeah? Let's see about that, shall we?" she said calmly. Before Rando could summon up any spirit energy, she had already disposed of him. "Tch. What a moron." she muttered.

Rando still had a thread of life left in him. With that bit of strength, he rasped, "How dare you... Edana, assassin for hire!" And, at that, he died.

Koenma was still aghast at what he had heard from this strange woman. "So, you're saying you broke into the prison last night, escaped with a convict, then murdered him?" he asked.

"That's what I said. And, his name was Rando. He hired me, well, I should say someone hired me to free him from prison . I completed my mission, and he ticked me off, so I killed him." she explained. "I _am_ an assassin for hire, you know."

" Yes, I can see that. But why in the hell would you turn yourself in!" Koenma demanded.

" Don't know myself, really. Guess I'd had enough with the failures." she shrugged. "If I ever fail an assignment, I kill the client. So noone can screw up my reputation."

"Well, you killed a dangerous convict, and still returned to my office. You don't have to go to prison. Instead, I think I'll put your valuable skills to work. I'm going to assign you to my detective team, the Reikai Tantei." Koenma announced. "By the way, what is your name, might I ask?"

"My name is Edana. Edana Ginryu, assassin for hire." Edana replied.


	2. Meeting Teammates

Assassin For Hire

Chap2: Meeting Teammates

YAAAAAAHOOOOOO! Within the first 2 days of posting my first chapter, I already got 3 reviews! I thank you, all of you, for reviewing my story. Thanks to Japanese Vampire Babe II, Blood Stained Sorceress, and...Ur Coz 0?...That must be my cousin...ahahaha...ahem... Well, enough of my pointless babble, continue with the ficcie!

The Reikai Tantei walked side-by-side down to their boss' room. Each thinking _remotely_ different thoughts.

"Why the _hell_ must I follow Koenma's orders?" thought Hiei.

"I _do_ hope this new recruit can help our team get along..." thought Kurama.

" Why do we need a new teammate when _I'm_ on the team?" thought Kuwabara.

And last, but certainly not least, Yusuke was thinking... "...Keiko sure looked HOT in her uniform today..."

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, they reached the sliding doors to Koenma's office. The doors automatically slid open at their feet. In the room, Koenma was sitting at his usual place in his desk. But there was a new person standing in the room.

She was a woman of about 5 feet. She had long, straight, black hair, that perfectly matched her pitch black one-piece skirt, and ankle-length boots. Her ears were pointed, and her eyes were silver, and slitted. She was remarkably beautiful, in a sinister kind of way. It was clear that she was a demon.

Koenma spoke up, "Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke, this is your new teammate. Her name is-"

"Edana Ginryu." Said Edana.

"Why do we have to have a _girl_ on our team!" Yusuke complained.

There was a flash of black, and a sharp blade was pressed to Yusuke's throat. "Care to say that again? For the feared Spirit detective, you're no threat to me. And, as I recall, I never asked to be on your team. And I suppose you didn't want me on your team either. So, seeing as we're in agreement, why don't we try to be friends, shall we?" she said to him.

"Stand down, Edana." Koenma said firmly.

"Yes,_ sir_." she said in a distasteful manner. She slid her katana back into her sheath and stepped away.

Kuwabara was staring dumbfounded at Edana. "Damn, for a girl, you're badass!" he exclaimed.

She glared at him. "For a _girl_?" She put her hand on the hilt of her katana. He began to sweat. "Now, what was that smart remark you just made?" she asked sweetly.

"Uh, nothing?" Kuwabara smiled weakly.

"That's what I thought." she said.

"...I apologize for my teammates' rudeness..." Kurama sweat-dropped. " But once you get to know them better, they're really not that bad..."

"Humph." Kuwabara and Yusuke said in unison.

" You might want to back down... She's a retired assassin for hire...and a pretty good one at that."Koenma warned.

" Retired? When'd she retire?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yesterday." she replied calmly. "And my abilities don't rust that easily."

The two human boys cowered for a second. At this point, Hiei spoke up."So that's why your name was familiar...You have yourself a pretty good reputation in the Makai. Edana Ginryu, assassin for hire... Many who have hired you have not been heard from since... It's no question what you do after the job is finished."

" Well, that's only if they tick me off, or I fail my objective. Which hardly ever happens. You should get your facts straight. More than half of them come back alive." Edana retorted.

Koenma cleared his throat to draw the attention to himself." Yes, and apparently she's friends with some other spirit detectives in another location..." Koenma added. "The ones in Europe." (A/N You have to read moongirlSelene99's fanfiction to figure out what I mean...)

" 'other ones'?" Yusuke asked.

"Yes, 'other ones'. If you were the only ones, you'd be travelling all over the world constantly. Now, aren't you happy there are 'others'?" Koenma asked smugly.

Edana rolled her eyes in exasperation. " So, when is our first mission as a 'team'?" she asked impatiently.

"Fortunately, a mission has just arrived. A band of demon theives have broken into the Great Vault. Your objective is to eliminate the demons and retrieve the objects."Koenma declared. "You must retrieve the Death Chain, the Soul-Stealing necklace, and the Monkey's Paw."

(_Death Chain: It bestows it's wielder with unimaginable powers, but only works when involving the taking of human life.---Soul-Stealing necklace: It's name says it all. The wearer of this particular necklace can never take it off, for fear of losing their soul.---Monkey's Paw: A cursed monkey's paw with the power to grant wishes, but be warned, wish carefully. For what you wish may come true, in the most painful of ways...) _

Whoo! My hands are cramped from typing non-stop! Well, you know the drill... Read, Review, and I will post! Otherwise, you're stuck not knowing what will happen in the next chapter! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!...Forgive me...Got a little carried away there...


	3. Going Solo

Assassin For Hire

Chapter 3: Going Solo

Hello! It's me again! I know some of you are thinking Edana is a Mary-Sue coughxXDaRkNeSs RoSeInEsSxXcough But I can assure you, she isn't. I haven't even gotten to the good parts yet! Now how can you judge a person you don't even know? As for moongirlSelene99 and Japanese Vampire Babe II, they know where this story is going...But seeing as I've practically totally changed the storyline, some of it may be a little unexpected... But after this chapter, I can promise, things will start moving a little bit faster.

"The Death Chain, the Soul-stealing necklace, and the Monkey's Paw...huh?" Edana asked.

Koenma nodded. "These artifacts can be dangerous in the wrong hands-"

" Sounds to me that these artifacts could do more damage in the_ right _hands or in the hands of the_ holder_." Edana muttered. Yusuke and Kuwabara sniggered at her sarcastic-yet-correct comment. " Do we really need to dispatch the entire Reikai Tantei to dispose of these petty thieves?" she asked.

Koenma sat for a moment. "Now that I think about it, I suppose you're right..." he sighed. "Who would like to go on a solo mission?"

"Why don't we observe Edana-san's fighting style? We know little about her, so I presume it would be best if we watched how she captures them." Kurama suggested.

Edana smirked at him. "Too much of a hassle for a few BOYS to handle?" she sneered. "Well, I suppose I will..."

(59 minutes later...)

"That good enough for you?"she asked. Within that short time span, she had located the demons, toyed with them, then brutally murdered them. Hiei was not even phased. Kurama showed approval, but Kuwabara and Yusuke had new respect for this new female recruit. "By the way, Koenma...While I was in Demon World searching for these petty thieves, I recieved word from a lower vassal of mine that someone has requested my services as an assassin for hire. With your permission, of course, I would like to accept this offer. I have a score to settle with this particular demon."

"You have my permission to do your duty. As long as you return to this office within 24 hours." Koenma ordered. "You are all dismissed."

The entire Reikai Tantei exited the prince of the Spirit World's office. Edana pulled out a photograph of a demon. Kurama peeked over her shoulder. "Is that your target?" he asked.

"Yes he is." she replied. "His name is Senryaku. I knew him for a few years. But he showed weakness and disrespect for me, so we went our separate ways. I had no use for a weakling."

"I see..." Yusuke said in a falsely serious tone.

"Eh, put a cork in it Urameshi!" Kuwabara groaned.

"Who are you to talk Kuwabara? As I remember, you've never beaten me once!" Yusuke laughed.

Or me." Hiei added.

"-count me in as well..." Kurama smiled.

Kuwabara flushed red. "OK! THAT'S IT! YOU LOOKIN FOR A FIGHT URAMESHI! YOU GOT ONE! WHEN WE GET BACK, I'M GIVIN YOU A ONE-WAY TICKET TO THE HOSPITAL!"

Edana looked at Hiei. "Are they always this annoying?" she asked.

"This is a quiet day for them..." Hiei replied.

The next day, Koenma contacted the Reikai Tantei on their communicators. "YUSUKE! URGENT! Edana never showed back up at my office!" he screamed into the communicator.

HAH! Betcha can't guess what happens next huh? Maybe she just wants to stay in demon world, maybe she's been kidnapped, maybe she ran off with some guy? Or maybe I'll just end the story right here! HAHAHAHAHA! Just kidding. I'll update as soon as I get some reviews...until then, suffer!

Fire Demoness Jaganshi


	4. Kidnapped!

Assassin For Hire

chapter 4: Kidapped

Hello! Yes, at this point I've only gotten one review...so what? I'm taking Kazuki Shindou's advice! As long as I have one person who believes in me, I will continue to write! (Kazuki is from Comic Party...) Though SOME people who I've expected to hear reviews from, haven't. coughmoongirlSelene99&JapaneseVampireBabeIIcough You guys disappoint me! TT.TT Thank you so very much, Blood Stained Sorceress! I still haven't gotten around to reading the rest of your story, Aerials (did I spell that right?). And for that, I'm sorry...ENOUGH OF ME FEELING SORRY FOR MYSELF! I-MUST-TYPE!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Edana never showed up at my office!" Koenma shouted.

'Aw, shut up, Koenma, will ya? She probably just doesn't want to come back. I, personally, don't blame her."Yusuke replied. "Who could? Right? Am I right?"

"You're right, Urameshi." Kuwabara agreed.

"Either way, we have to go after her. If she's been taken hostage, or if she's decided not to return." Hiei put in.

Kurama agreed. "Hiei's right. If she's been kidnapped, we have to rescue her. But if she's fled, she's dangerous to us all."

"The last time I heard from her, she was at the castle of Senryaku." Koenma informed them.

"Senryaku was the demon she was hired to eliminate." said Kurama. "Koenma, what is this demon's class?"

" This Senryaku is a high B-class demon. He's not very far from becoming an A-class. He's dangerous. Considering his cleverness, and strategies. I wouldn't be surprized if his fortress is surrounded by Demon-Binding Circles." said Koenma.

"What are demon-binding circles?" Kuwabara asked.

"Sounds pretty obvious to me." Yusuke mumbled.

"Demon Circles can bind, weaken, transport, or kill any demon or being with demon ancestry that carelessly steps into one." Kurama explained. "Even though this particular practice is many many years old. I would be surprized to even meet a demon who knows how to conjure up such complex spell-craft."

" Yeah, yeah...can we go already? I'm dyin to see some action!" Yusuke complained. "Just hand us a portal to whats-his-name's-castle!"

Minutes later, they had arrived at the gates to Senryaku's castle." We should tread carefully at this point, Demon-Binding Circles could be anywhere!" Kurama warned them. They stepped over the threshold as one. Kurama and Hiei froze in their tracks, Yusuke looked down at their feet. They were surrounded by intricate carvings, symbols, and patterns, that encircled where they stood. The carvings began to glow a golden color that enveloped the entire Reikai Tantei. Kuwabara and Yusuke were unaffected by the spell, but when they saw Kurama and Hiei beginning to disappear, they instantly grabbed their hands on instinct. The golden light consumed their entire beings.

When they had finally gathered their wits, they had been transported to a dungeon-like cavern. "So you've come to rescue this cocky little assassin, eh?" a voice said from the shadows. A young-looking demon walked into the flickering light of the torches positioned on the walls. He was somewhat tall, about Kurama's height. His attire consisted of a hunter-green cloak, and some expensive-looking clothes, which were made of some sort of demonic silk. He had golden hair that was spiked and long which weighed it down a bit, and he had aqua-green eyes. "Would you like to see her?" he asked.

"So you have captured her? You are Senryaku, am I wrong?" Kurama inquired.

"Yes, that would be me. Well, enough of the suspense. I will summon her." Senryaku smirked, he knelt where he was. Then, he placed his hand on the floor in front of him. He began some strange chant, and a demon-binding circle appeared in front of him. It glowed the same gold color as when they were transported to the exact spot where the Reikai Tantei currently stood. Within seconds, Edana appeared within the demon circle. She seemed bound, along with a spell -scroll across her mouth, similar to the duct-tape in those kidnapping movies. "Now doesn't she seem _so_ helpless?" he asked in a falsely sympathetic tone. He held her chin in his hand. She glared at him, and if glares could kill, he would have died, come back, and died again. She tore her face away from his. "Well, is it MY fault that you got too cocky trying to kill me?" he asked her.

"Well, if she's not strong enough to escape from those bondages, do we really need her on our team?" Kuwabara asked. "She's not strong enough, in my opinion..." At his comment, she glared daggers at him.

"Oh, _ordinary_ bondages aren't enough to hold _this_ one..." Senryaku put in. "She's strong enough to incinerate regular rope. So I had to improvise. Prayer beads to neutralize her sorcery, while her hands are bound, she can't use her ninjutsu. And, with the circle, she's as powerless as a normal human girl." he laughed. She rolled her eyes.Yusuke started toward the two demons. Within a second, Senryaku had whipped out a syringe, held Edana by her throat, and aimed the needle. "Not another step! One more move, and she will be poisoned!" he warned them.

Kurama held out his hands as so not to startle their enemy. "Let's not get hasty, perhaps we could come to a probable solution...?" he asked, hopefully. Unfortunately, at that moment, Kuwabara shifted his feet. Senryaku, on instinct, injected the serum into Edana's throat. Hiei, who had been waiting for the opportune moment, dashed forward and sliced Senryaku in half. Seeing as he was close enough, he cut off the prayer beads that had bound Edana. She pulled off the spell scroll, and glared at Senryaku's body. But, it was no longer his body. It was a small doll, encircled with a strand of golden hair...(A/N Yes, I borrowed Rumiko Takahashi's idea for Naraku's demon puppets... I'm saying, this idea's not mine!)

"Where'd he go?" Kuwabara asked stupidly.

"Senryaku escaped. He used demon puppet sorcery to make a copy of himself and flee long beforehand." Edana explained. "What a coward, this is why I ditched him long ago."

"What about that poison? He said he poisoned you!" Yusuke exclaimed.

"I wouldn't worry about it. He used to like me. It was probably just water..." Edana told them. She stood up and began to walk out of the chamber. The guys exchanged glances, then followed her back to Spirit World.

Yusuke and Kuwabara had cornered Edana against Genkai's living room furniture. "How!" they demanded.

"I don't have to tell you. I only got cocky, and I let my guard down, he caught me. That's it." she replied. Then she got up and tried to leave. The duo pushed her back onto the couch, earning a death glare from her. "Fine!" she shouted, causing the two to fall over from the force of her voice. "I had gotten through the front door, evading all of the demon circles. I thought this was too easy, so I decided to give myself a challenge. I started to dodge them backwards. It was still too easy. So I did it with my eyes closed. As soon as my guard was off, he had snuck up behind me and placed a spell scroll on my back, knocking me out. And that's it."

"No way... You sure did get too cocky..." Kuwabara commented.

"Isn't that what I've been telling you?" she asked him irritably. "Actually, since we've left, I've been feeling a bit queezy... I think I'll go take a bath..."

At that moment, Kurama had walked into the room. He had overheard their conversation. "Taking a bath sounds like a good idea. I highly reccomend it." he smiled.

She got up and said "Yeah. I think I'll do that..." she was about to walk out the door, when she froze in her tracks. She seemed paralyzed.

Yusuke walked up to her and said as he patted her back,"Whatsa matter? Second thoughts?" he snickered.

She collapsed where she stood, and curled up into a fetal position. Her body began to convulse and twitch. Kurama knelt next to her, he felt her forehead. He spoke as he observed her, "Raise in temperature, dialated pupils, convulsng, abnormal persperation... this is a deadly poison from the demon plane!" he shouted. "Quickly you two! Help me carry her to her room!" he ordered. Yusuke and Kuwabara did as they were told. 30 seconds later, she lay in her bed, twitching uncontrollably. Yusuke had gone to fetch Koenma to inform him of this sudden change in events. It was easy to see she was in a great deal of pain, from the way she twitched, grunted, and whimpered. (hate to ruin this, but in the background a sound like a lightbulb exploding goes off) She sat up in her bed, quivering. Then, she let out an ear-piercing scream that seemed to last for hours. Kurama and Kuwabara had to cover their ears, the sound was so deafening. When her scream subsided, she fell back onto her pillow, unmoving...

At that moment, Yusuke and Koenma (teen-form) burst into her room. Koenma gasped in shock, "She's..."

(And, I'm ending it there! WAHAHAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER! And if you threaten to kill me, or even go through with it, you'll never know what happens next! You'll never know what she was! Dead? Blind? Horribly disfigured? Review me and I will post my next chapter. Until then, SUFFER!)


	5. How to Cope?

Chapter 5: How to Cope?

Hi! Fire Demoness Jaganshi here! Thank you to everyone who's reviewed my story! Many many thanks to one of my favorite authoress'. (is that how you spell it?), Everqueen! She rox! I am most grateful that she reviewed AFH. Anyone who reads this chapter, I highly reccomend you to read her story, Time of Demons, Wands, and Swords. It may be long, but it's worth the read. Trust me. Well, let's see...cliffhanger? Oh yeah! That's where I left off! Ok, to continue...

She collapsed where she stood, and curled up into a fetal position. Her body began to convulse and twitch. Kurama knelt next to her, he felt her forehead. He spoke as he observed her, "Raise in temperature, dialated pupils, convulsing, abnormal persperation... this is a deadly poison from the demon plane!" he shouted. "Quickly you two! Help me carry her to her room!" he ordered. Yusuke and Kuwabara did as they were told. 30 seconds later, she lay in her bed, twitching uncontrollably. Yusuke had gone to fetch Koenma to inform him of this sudden change in events. It was easy to see she was in a great deal of pain, from the way she twitched, grunted, and whimpered. (hate to ruin this, but in the background a sound like a lightbulb exploding goes off) She sat up in her bed, quivering. Then, she let out an ear-piercing scream that seemed to last for hours. Kurama and Kuwabara had to cover their ears, the sound was so deafening. When her scream subsided, she fell back onto her pillow, unmoving...

At that moment, Yusuke and Koenma (teen-form) burst into her room. Koenma gasped in shock, "She's..." (TIME ELAPSES) "Human." Koenma muttered. The entire Reikai Tantei had come once they had heard of the news. Even Yukina, Botan, and Keiko were present. Partially concerned about this new recruit, and partially, because they wanted to meet this person. "Such an effective use of poison... But how is it that she survived! Isn't this particular poison fatal!"

"If I may, lord Koenma?" Kurama asked. "It would seem that this poison is fatal only to the demon race. She fought off the poison, but in doing so, she surrendered her demon blood. She became human in order to survive."

"I think I understand...but didn't you say she was hot-tempered? How's she gonna react to this? And, who's gonna tell her!" Botan exclaimed.

At nearly that second, a rumbling sound was heard from outside the temple. Then you could hear three pairs of footsteps coming from the hallway. The next moment, three girls burst into the room. "WHAT HAPPENED!" They all exclaimed at once. The group that was there before, stood shocked at these new arrivals.

Then Koenma asked, " What are you three doing here! You're supposed to be in Europe!"

The first of these girls, was almost as tall as Yoko Kurama. She had very long voilet hair, with light violet eyes. She had Large fox ears and a fox tail, which were also of the violet color. She wore a dark purple angel-sleeve shirt with black jeans. She was instantly recognised as the oldest, tallest, and most respectable of the group.

The second girl was shorter than the first, but still respectable. She had midnight blue hair that was put up into a ponytail with two side-parts like Botan's, silver eyes, and there was a silver crescent moon on her forehead. She wore a normal, knee length skirt of a navy blue color and cream-colored ankle-high boots. She had kind of a glow emitting from her.

The last of them was shortest, though still taller than Edana. She had shoulder-length hair of a light orange color, as was her attire, which was practically all orangey-gold. She also had cat ears and a cat-tail. Though she was not as respectable as the first two...

"Yusuke, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, Botan, Keiko, Yukina, this is the European Reikai Tantei." Koenma explained. "The taller one is Kiechara, the other tall one is Shadou, and the last one is Sakura. These three were Edana's previous teammates."

"It's a pleasure to meet you here, again, Kurama." Kiechara smiled.

"Same here, Kiechara." Kurama replied with a smile.

"You two know each other?" Yusuke asked. Kiechara and Kurama nodded.

Suddenly, Sakura shouted, "WHERE'S EDANA!" The other two were snapped out of their reverie, and looked straight at the bed where Edana currently lay. All three gasped in shock, " SHE'S HUMAN?"

"Uh, yes. She was poisoned by some demon named Senryaku. She managed to survive, but in doing so, she gave up her demon blood." Koenma explained.

"Uh, yes. I know..." Edana muttered. Everyone gasped in shock. "Yes, I've been awake the entire time, I've heard every word. I would like to be alone..."

At her words, everyone left except her teammates, and the other girls. "Hey, are you feeling ok?" Shadou asked, concerned.

"No. I'm just peachy. I feel like I can get up and skip around in a field of pink daisies in an adorable_ human _skirt!" Edana snapped. "Of course I'm not feeling ok! I've been shamed by losing my demon blood, I've become a weak little human girl, and I've been proven a weakling by that bastard-of-a-demon, Senryaku!"

"Truthfully..." started Kiechara. "You've actually proven you're stronger than he expected. You escaped his lair, and with poison in your bloodstream. Then, when the poison started to take effect, you survived. That's strong, don't you think?"

Sakura and Shadou nodded and said, "That's pretty strong."

"Yes, I would have to agree. But, had I gotten here sooner, I may have been able to heal you before the poison affected you." said Yukina.

"Yes, I certainly cannot do as much as Yukina-chan, here." Botan smiled and sweat-dropped.

"And, I being human, could do nothing. But, we seem to all agree that you are stronger than you give yourself credit for." Keiko agreed, with a smile.

Edana looked at them, confused. "And you would beee...?" (A/N: She's met Botan before...No introduction necessary...)

"Yukina"

"Keiko Yukimura."

"It's very nice to meet you, Edana." they said in unison, bowing politely.

Edana sighed and laid back down on her pillow. "Nice to meet you too..."

Shadou whispered to Kiechara and Sakura, "She _must_ be feeling bad, especially if she's being polite..." Edana glared at them. "I may not have acute hearing anymore, but I still heard you...!" she spat. The girls giggled and looked away. "I'm fully recovered physically, so I _can_ get up and chase you guys around, you know..." she added threateningly. The girls pretended to be bored, and Kiechara even asked if anybody wanted to play chess! Edana hopped out of bed and chased her friends around the temple, which earned quite a few strange looks from the other guests.

YESSS! I'm done! Time to party! (throws confetti) Ok, party over. Don't let the door hit you while you're reviewing my story! Oh, yeah, and I'll dedicate the next chapter to the first person who reviews me. I gotta keep things interesting, y'know! Really, I will give you credit...If I remember...ahahahaha...(sweatdrop). Ja-ne!

Fire Demoness Jaganshi


	6. Planning

Assassin for Hire

Chap 6 Planning

ShadeSpirit thank you for being the first to review my 5th chappie! I love you!If it weren't weird I'd kiss you!...Come to think of it...no I wouldn't...lol. Oh, yeah...JVB! MGS99! What kind of friends are you? You wouldn't review my chapter for weeks! WHY?...ahem...ok then...

Chapter6-Going Out-

Edana looked at them, confused. "And you would beee...?" (A/N: She's met Botan before...No introduction necessary...)

"Yukina"

"Keiko Yukimura."

"It's very nice to meet you, Edana." they said in unison, bowing politely.

Edana sighed and laid back down on her pillow. "Nice to meet you too..."

Shadou whispered to Kiechara and Sakura, "She _must_ be feeling bad, especially if she's being polite..." Edana glared at them. "I may not have acute hearing anymore, but I still heard you...!" she spat. The girls giggled and looked away. "I'm fully recovered physically, so I _can_ get up and chase you guys around, you know..." she added threateningly. The girls pretended to be bored, and Kiechara even asked if anybody wanted to play chess! Edana hopped out of bed and chased her friends around the temple, which earned quite a few strange looks from the other guests.

elapse of time

Shadou was as worried as the others were. Edana hadn't left her room since her friends had come. She knew that they had to do something to get Edana up and at'em, and not down in the dumps. So, her and the others got together and cooked up a plan to help their friend.---About 3 hours after dawn had broken the next day, Shadou padded up to Edana's door. She knocked gently and called, "Edana-chan! I know you're up! Your spirit energy was moving around your room for an hour! Get dressed and ready to go out into public in 10 minutes!"

"I'm not gonna. You can't make me. Go bother Yusuke or something..." was Edana's reply.

Shadou sighed in exasperation. "You know I hate resorting to violence, Edana-chan. But if I have to I will. If you aren't ready to go, I'll put Indigo Catseye into your food. And I'm afraid to say, I have no Sierra Mist..." She added threateningly.

"I'll be ready in five." Edana replied. (A/N Indigo Catseye Type B:Powdered indigo catseye, thyme, majoram, and Pepsi, a poison of high caliber---cure: powdered indigo catseye and Sierra Mist, courtesy of MoongirlSelene99)

Edana was ready in less than five minutes as she had said. She wore jeans and a black t-shirt. As she left her room, she saw Kiechara, Sakura, Shadou, Keiko, Yukina, and Botan waiting outside her door. "C'mon."said Kiechara forcefully, before grabbing Edana's wrist and pulling her down the hallway.

"Hey! Wait! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Edana demanded while trying to release herself from Kiechara's grip.

"She ain't going quietly, Kiechara." Sakura pointed out, as she looked at the struggling Edana. "Looks like we'll have to resort to plan B..."

As Sakura said this, Kiechara lifted Edana up and carried her by the waist. Edana blinked in confusion." Resistance is futile. You will come quietly. No questions asked." Kiechara explained, in a harsh tone of voice.

"Just come along and enjoy the ride, girl!" Botan said cheerily, and in her usual bubbly manner.

Yukina walked behind them all, smiling brightly. "Onegai, Edana-chan? You won't regret it..." she asked softly. Edana had no choice but to go along with it. She couldn't fight her way out of it, and she couldn't argue when she was severely outnumbered.

Edana sighed in exasperation. "Ok, fine. Do what you will. Just don't annoy me or I'll fight." she warned. "And could you promise me you won't bug me after this?" she asked.

"WE PROMISE!" the girls all replied, smiling, while holding their fingers crossed behind their backs.

(This damned wordpad doesn't want to do what I want it to...ah, well...who cares, right? The computer doesn't. kicks computer Ok, so what do the girls have in store for Edana? Is there danger closeby? Will she survive the day? Tune in next time for, Assassin for Hire! ba-bada-ba! Ok, that's corny, but still...read and review! Or I will send my assassins after you...I have eyes everywhere...you had better watch your back...MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA...trails off into background)


	7. Girls Night Out wait, it's daytime

Assassin for Hire-chapter 7 

The Plot (shortened title)

(originally called The-devious-plot-of-the-evil-sugar-hi-gifted-females-of-the-human-and-demon-worlds,-muahahahaha!)

**(Authoress' strange ranting, HELLOIAMSOGLADTHATYOU'VEREACHEDTHESEVENTHCHAPTEROFASSASSINFORHIRE!WOOO!IAMSOHAPPYTHATIWILLFINALLYGETTOCONTINUETHISFREAKINGSTORYBECAUSEMYDAD'SCOMPUTERBROKEDOWNFORAFEWMONTHS!THOUGHATTHEMOMENTIAMUSINGASCHOOLCOMPUTERBECAUSETHELIBRARIANISN'TBREATHINGDOWNMYNECK!IGUESSYOUGUYSAREWONDERINGWHYIMNOTUSINGSPACESANDTHETYPEISALLCAPS!ITISJUSTANOTHERSIDEEFFECTOFTHESUGARINMYSYSTEM!ILOVEMUFFINSPOWDEREDDONUTSCOOKIESANDBROWNIES!THANKISHBALAFORTHESUGAR!ANDALSOTHANKISHBALAFORTHESTUDYTABLESBEFORETHESEMESTEREXAMS!WOOT!---person walks into the room, looking quizzically at the monitor What in Sam-hill are you ranting on about? authoress QUITREADINOVERMYSHOULDERYAOLDCOOT!old coot Sorry, and why am I old? authoress BECAUSEYOUHAVEWRINKLESTHATSWHY!a 'ping' is heard as the authoress reverts to 'sane' mode…. Oh, pardon me….'…..old man has had a heart attack and is twitching on the floor friend of authoress Ok, stop kidding around, now…just get to the point of your ranting so the readers can read what they wanted to read in the first place of choosing to read the story because they have already read the first six chapters of the story….. authoress Yes. You do have a point…AHEM. inhales deeply SO MY CHAPTERS ARE TOO SHORT, HUH! MY OC IS A MARY-SUE, HUH! YOU WANT MY CHAPTERS LONGER, HUH! YOU WANT ME TO WRITE MORE, HUH! WELL YOU GOT IT! THE FREAKIN REASON MY CHAPTERS WERE SO SHORT UNTIL NOW WAS 1.) because I was lazy… 2.) I had no other time to write 3.) I had the chapters all planned out! 4.) If they weren't short, you'd still be on the third chapter because it would have been too long! Well, guess what? This chapter will be long….. llllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnggg! YA HEAR ME NOW?…good…..mutters 'freaking cell phone commercials….' )**

"Just come along and enjoy the ride, girl!" Botan said cheerily, and in her usual bubbly manner.

Yukina walked behind them all, smiling brightly. "Onegai, Edana-chan? You won't regret it..." she asked softly. Edana had no choice but to go along with it. She couldn't fight her way out of it, and she couldn't argue when she was severely outnumbered.

Edana sighed in exasperation. "Ok, fine. Do what you will. Just don't annoy me or I'll fight." she warned. "And could you promise me you won't bug me after this?" she asked.

"WE PROMISE!" the girls all replied, smiling, while holding their fingers crossed behind their backs.

Edana muttered savagely, "You had better mean it… and uncross your fingers while you're at it!" She hissed.

Most of the girls jumped, startled that Edana had caught them dead-on. "Wh-whatever do you mean?" they asked innocently, masking their lie. "What crossed fingers?", they asked as they slowly and deliberately uncrossed said fingers.

"You know very well what I mean! You had your fingers crossed! Don't lie to me!" she snarled at them. "Just do whatever you want and then leave me alone for the rest of the day! and if it is going to take the rest of the day, let's go and get it over with!"

"We're not going anywhere until you say please." Botan said softly, but demandingly.

"PLEASE can we get the hell outta here!" Edana said exasperatedly, clearly losing her patience with her friends and these newer acquaintances.

"Why, of course we can depart now that you've used your manners…in a very crude way… and now we can begin our day of fun! "Kiechara grinned enthusiastically. "First off, a trip to the ice cream parlor!"

(after the group had entered said ice cream parlor and ad purchased their treats…) "SO! Where should we head to first?" Keiko asked happily. "Where should we go?"

"I propose a trip to the mall. The wonderful world of cheap items and great discounts! Not to mention the bookstore where they sell manga books on gay guys ...tee hee…" Sakura giggled happily, as she opened a plastic spoon. After she finished her statement, she eyed her ice cream with a devilish look. Her order was a triple-chocolate-topping-chocolate-ice-cream-soaked-in-chocolate-syrup-covered-in-fudge-brownies type of ice cream.

Shadou groaned at their misfortune. A hyper cat demon high on sugar surely was to be the doom of them all… "Please, Sakura, no more sugar after this… You know how you get…"

Edana gave Shadou a quizzical look. "Is _sugar_ the reason she is always crazy and insane beyond all recognition? _That's_ the cause of her scary behavior?"

"SUGAR!" Sakura squealed in delight and began to inhale the ice cream at an inhuman rate. (_A/N no duh, she's a demon?_) Specks of chocolate and fudge flew onto the tabletop, causing the girls to instinctively pull their ice cream away from the danger zone.

After Edana had saved her ice cream, she gave it an evil stare. "Having never been a human before, what the hell is this weird-looking stuff?" she asked, poking the chocolate ice cream cone with her finger. "And why does it feel like snow?"

Keiko cleared her throat and inhaled, "**Ice cream**, a noun, this treat is a smooth, sweet, cold food prepared from a frozen mixture of milk products and flavorings, containing a minimum of 10 percent milk fat and eaten as a snack or dessert. It is also commonly known as frozen yogurt, which is, technically, a whole different variation of ingredients."

Shadou and Kiechara sweat-dropped, "Well, I guess that you being one of the top at your school isn't for nuthin', huh?" they asked. "You're practically a walking dictionary!"

"Well, I was hoping my intelligence would inspire Yusuke to study and come to school more than once every ten days. But it doesn't matter now. He's always off saving the world from some evil demon that wants to take it over. But I can still be proud of him for doing that, can't I? Also, it's a bonus that with my intelligence, I can easily get into a prep school or high school… But if I get into high school, I'll choose a private girls academy. I don't want to risk getting into trouble with Yusuke if a guy starts dating me…"

"And yet another prime example of how intelligence is a double-edged sword…" Kiechara grinned. "Yours could help your future, if Yusuke lets you…"

Keiko laughed, "Yes, that does seem to be the case here, now doesn't it?"

"Oh! And the fact about you getting into school, Koenma says it might be good for us to go to school together!" Shadou piped up. "Maybe we'll go to your school, Keiko! Or we could go to an all-girls school…or maybe Kurama's school-" , she stole a quick glance at Kiechara, "Either way, it could be lots of fun!"

Edana sighed dejectedly, "I guess I'll have to go too, won't I?" she poked her ice cream, which had begun to melt. "Jeez…I can't do anything I normally did….it's like I'm starting all over!" she muttered savagely, throwing down her spoon.

"Well… please don't count us out just yet… We just want to help you…" Shadou mumbled. "And we went to the trouble of asking Koenma to give us money to go out today!"

Edana smiled faintly, "Well, that's an upside. Koenma had to help out? This must be serious!"

"Well, we're here, so just enjoy yourself. Your first step toward ningen-dom is your first lick of your ice cream!" Kiechara smirked.

Edana eyed her ice cream warily. "So, I just have to try it?", the girls nodded in reply. She sighed and picked up the cone and licked it. "So, what do you think?" they asked earnestly. "Humph." she replied, continuing to eat it. "She likes it." they countered in a droning manner. Then, at an instant, they burst into laughter.

Once they had all finished, (Sakura finished first) the group began to plan out their day. Finally, they had decided on a schedule. First, to the mall, second, the amusement park, third to the park (courtesy of Yukina), and last, they would rent movies and watch them all night. After they left the ice cream parlor, they began a short but brisk walk to the mall.

"C'mon! Hurry it up already! I wanna go see the yaoi! " Sakura whined pathetically.

Kiechara groaned in annoyance. "Okay, who wants to go to the bookstore with the baby kitty?" she asked.

"I'll go! Besides, you are the only one who can really keep Edana in line. You need to be with her." Shadou piped up. "AAAAND, I want to see the yaoi too!" and with that said, she and Sakura departed for the bookstore.

"Uuuuh...guys? This mall is huge, and not all of us have cell phones…" Keiko stated nervously.

"Good point." Kiechara said in a rushed voice. "HEY YOU GUYS! WAIT UP FOR US!" she hollered at the two disappearing backs. They both hit the floor and people near them began to stare. "C'mon, we have to stay together!" she yanked on Edana's wrist and the rest of them followed, together, they went to the bookstore.

Edana flushed deep red as Sakura thrust a very graphic picture of M+ yaoi rated material into her face. "OMIGOD! Get that thing away from me! That is so sick! What is wrong with you?" she shrieked, shoving the book away.

"Awww… you no like?" Sakura asked sadly. "This is yaoi…"

"Man… this crap is what you're so obsessed over?" Edana asked, regaining her composure. "I've made some pretty weird friends, haven't I?"

"Yes. It does seem that way…" Botan sniggered.

When the others went off into the bookstore looking for random interesting books, Edana crept up behind Sakura and peeked over her shoulder. "Hey…"

Sakura jumped and turned to face her. "What do you want, yaoi-hater?" she asked venomously.

"Can I see that book?"

"I thought you thought it was sick and gross?"

"Hey, I'm a grown woman, I have a right to a perverted mind… But I gotta keep my image up." she replied, blushing. "So…can I see it?"

Sakura grinned, "Sure! Of course! And you must check out all these other manga books…I guarantee you'll find one that'll interest you."

Edana replied with a slight grin. "Okay…but keep this down? I don't want my reputation ruined because all of a sudden I found a new interest… or that I have a perverted mind…"

"SURE! …But I don't see why having a perverted mind is a bad thing… It's normal."

"Normal for you. But I have an image to keep up. And it doesn't include being perverted in any way. So…"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Okay! Now, Shinobu Gotoh, and Shoko Takaku call this one that I showed you Passion. It's a teacher and a student, man and man, the student is a senior in high school, who sparked the passion with his teacher." Sakura grinned, showing the book to Edana. "It's graphic, but not that graphic. They don't show anything."

Edana made a weird face. "Okay, I admit it, this isn't nearly as good as the real stuff. I saw two male humans making out before and it was worse than this."

"Well, this is only one of the two books. And of course, it's not the only yaoi manga series. There's also Gravitation, Eerie Queerie, and, uh…a whole lot of other things I can't remember this second. MY favorite is Gravitation."

"And…what's that one?"

"It's the complicated story of an aspiring singer named Shuichi Shindou and a cranky and depressing romance novelist named Eiri Uesugi. Except his pen name is Eiri Yuki, which is what everyone calls him. It's romance, comedy and suspense all rolled into one!"

(Elapse of time) About three hours later… (A/N Come on, if you're reading this, you like YYH, right? Don't tell me you've never wanted to stay in the manga section of a bookstore for three hours before!) The group of girls walked out of the bookstore with their selection of books. Shadou and Sakura bought all the yaoi books they didn't already have, (Sakura bought a few for Edana and hid them among her stash) Kiechara bought a book on how the Y-chromosome won't last, Yukina bought a book on species of birds, Botan a book on different descriptions of the Grim Reaper, hoping to find out more on how others see her job. Keiko had bought study books and one on how to understand men and your boyfriend. Even Edana got some books, keeping up a front that if it was Koenma's, she had to take part in the shopping. She bought a book on swords, and a few manga, saying she was somewhat interested. The titles she had gotten were Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, Azumanga Daioh, and Bleach. (Copyright of Hiromu Arakawa, Nobuhiro Watsuki, Kiyohiko Azuma, and Tite Kubo)

The group of girls bought tons of other things. They had even gone into a clothing store to buy, guess what? Clothes! Botan, Keiko, and Sakura went straight for the pink-and-girly section. Kiechara guarded the door so as not to let Edana escape, while pretending to look at clothes. Yukina and Shadou just wandered around, looking at and sizing up anything that caught their eye. Edana, having been abandoned, just stood for a minute, looking stupid. Then, she had a look around. Obviously, she kept away from the pink section where squeals of delight constantly rang out. And, she also stayed away from the lingerie section. She wandered around, occasionally glancing at articles of clothing. Suddenly, she spotted a yukata to her liking. She dashed forward to size it up on herself. The yukata had a unique design. Three colors blended together in a wave pattern, silver, light blue, and dark blue. The most eye-catching part of this yukata was the silver dragon wound from the right foot, around the body, and its head peeked over the left shoulder.

"Ya find something you like?"

Edana visibly jumped and stumbled away from who had spoken. "S-Shadou?"

"You called?" Shadou asked with a smile. Then, she noticed a piece of cloth that Edana held. "Did you find something to your liking?"

Edana snorted and looked away, trying to hide the yukata from view. "Not in particular…"

Shadou turned on her heel and shouted at the top of her lungs, "YOU GUYS! EDANA FOUND SOMETHING SHE LIKES!" In less than five seconds, the rest of their party was crowded around Shadou and Edana.

"Wow, what is it?"

"Such a beautiful yukata!"

"Congratulations on your first human world find of clothing!"

Edana flushed with embarrassment. "Uhm …thanks?" she stammered nervously.

Kiechara, Shadou, and Sakura gasped in shock. "Who are you and what have you done with our friend Edana!" Kiechara demanded, holding Edana's 'imposter' by the collar of her shirt. "Tell us or you'll regret it…"

Edana snapped back at her, "What the #&! Put me down right this instant you jerk! I'm warning you!"

Kiechara grinned and set her down. "Sorry. I thought an imposter had replaced you. You weren't acting like yourself."

"What do you mean I wasn't acting like myself!" Edana spat.

"You were being, shy and withdrawn, not to mention the blushing…" Botan explained in her usual bubbly manner.

"Why you- I do not blush!" Edana protested, as she blushed, despite her claim. "I have never blushed ever in my lifetime!"

"Then, this is the blush of your next lifetime?" Kiechara asked, raising an eyebrow. "You've just blushed twice within three minutes."

"Have not."

"Suit yourself…" Kiechara shrugged. Then she eyed the yukata. "So, are we getting that for you?"

Edana looked at the yukata in her hands. She tossed it at Keiko, and said "Do what you want…"

"Alright…" Keiko pouted sadly, then she turned and cheered, "To the checkout line! Everyone ready your purchases!"

The girls cheered and held up their items. As such, they proceeded to check out. When Edana's yukata was ringed up, the cashier exclaimed. "This is expensive! Oh, well… 11,690 yen, please." (approx. 98.99 dollars in U.S money)

"I'm glad Koenma's paying for all this…" Botan grinned sheepishly, handing over the money.

"Thank you and have a nice day! Be sure to come back for anything else you might need!" the cashier said cheerily.

The girls dragged Edana all throughout the other stores in the mall. She was forced to try on all sorts of pink, feathery, and fluffy things like boas and earrings. She absolutely despised the store Claires. Along with every other girl accessory store. But when they found a chance to stop at Hot Topic, her mood was lifted a bit. She greatly enjoyed the store. But, the others didn't want to hang around that store too long, so before she had a decent chance to look around, they left.

With their arms laden with bags of purchases, they left the mall. "Uhm… we aren't gonna carry all of these with us to the amusement park, are we?" Yukina asked, shyly.

The girls stopped in their tracks. "Oh, great! We forgot about our transportation, too! The amusement park is on the other side of town! We can't carry all of our stuff there!" Shadou complained.

"Ha! I have the instrument to our salvation!" Kiechara smirked widely.

"What? A flying pig?" Edana asked sarcastically.

"I'm glad you asked, my friend! It is perhaps the greatest invention of the twenty-first century! It is, the remarkable, da da-da da! Cell Phone!" she said, whipping out a small, violet cell phone.

"So, who're you gonna call?" asked Sakura.

"Ghost busters?" Keiko asked, hardly repressing a giggle.

Kiechara managed a sneer, "NO. The person I'm going to call is much more reliable than that!" she replied. With that, she dialed a number quite rapidly on the keypad. She waited while their phone rang. Even though the party was listening intently, they didn't hear the 'hello' from the person, they only heard the 'pip' as they answered. Before the person on the other line could greet her politely, she began to talk in an excited manner, much unlike her usual tedious demeanor. "Hello cutie pie! How are you doing! … Oh, me? I'm just peachy! … No, silly I haven't been doing drugs with my friends!… Oh, yeah. But honey, could you please give my friends and I a lift to the amusement park? We have too many things and we can't walk all the way across town! Who knows what kind of perverts could try to pick us up? … Yes, we could defend ourselves, but that's not the point, sugar!… Yah, my friends and I are at the mall, ya can't miss us, we're the cute ones standing out front!" she giggled like a little girl, "Okay, we'll see you later, TTFN baby-cakes!" she hung up.

The rest of the group stood in shock. "What the hell was that all about!" Edana exclaimed. "Since when do you talk like that?"

"Yeah! You're not some kind of valley girl!" Shadou added heatedly.

Yukina asked, "Who was that? Someone we know?"

"You'll find out in a few minutes." Kiechara grinned, her usual expression back to normal.

About ten minutes later, a red pickup truck pulled up in front of the mall. The window rolled down, revealing none other than- "-KURAMA?" the girls screeched. **_(A/N AWAKF, I know you've read this part a while back, so, just deal with it. Kurama doesn't have a Jaguar for the good of the story. Perhaps in a later chapter I'll have you get one for him for his birthday… Readers! This is somewhat of an inside joke… just ignore it… really…just read the story…)_**

"Hello." He said pleasantly, with a wave of his hand.

Kiechara bounced up to his window and hugged his neck. "Hello cutie!" she smiled. "Are we gonna sit in the back of the truck?"

"Yes, and stop it with the pet names. They're getting annoying and you aren't acting normal…" he said with a sweat-drop.

"What do you mean I'm not acting normal?" she asked with a strange, pitying face.

"I mean, you're not acting like you normally act." He replied. She smiled and began to caress his face. "Just stop it and get in the back!" he snapped, beginning to lose his composure.

She giggled and hopped in the back where the others were already sitting. "Ha. Easy win." She grinned. "Come on, pay up Shadou!"

"Huh? Oh…right…" she mumbled, and pulled out her purse, took out a wad of money, and gave it to Kiechara.

"What's going on here?" Sakura asked, visibly dumbfounded.

"Shadou and I made a bet that I would never act like that in front of Kurama. She lost." Kiechara said with a smirk, counting the money. "It was an easy 50$…"

Edana smirked. "I may not have known you guys for that many years, but _I_ could have told Shadou that she would lose…"

"I believe we all could." Botan chirped.

"Let's cheer for Kiechara, the greatest of us all!" Sakura squealed. Kiechara stood up and bowed repeatedly. "Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra! Kie-cha-ra!" they all chanted.

From the window, Kurama called out as he pulled onto the freeway, "Sit down! You're going to fall off!" he ordered.

Kiechara plopped back down and scooted toward the front of the truck, as close as she could to the cab. She tapped lightly on the glass that separated her and Kurama. He opened the little window. "Do I detect a hint of worry in your voice?" she asked slyly. He slammed the window shut in reply. "I do believe I've hit the nail on the head, haven't I?" she asked, turning to the girls.

Yukina giggled, "I think you have."

"Most definitely." Keiko agreed.

"Be quiet, would you please! It's hard to concentrate on the road with all you chattering back there!" Kurama shouted.

Edana sat back and observed their silly behavior. She had no intention of degrading herself like that. But she could not hide a smirk at the humorous antics of her friends. And, she knew she would have to remember this day, because Kurama had lost his cool over a girl. And she happened to know this particular girl.

Before long, they had reached the amusement park. "Kurama-baby, could you pleeeze take these things over to Keiko's house?" Kiechara asked pathetically. "Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Kurama was starting to lose his composure again. "Yes. Of course." He said through gritted teeth. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Thanks!" she chirped, and pecked him on the cheek. His eyes widened, he flushed, and sped off to Keiko's house with their stuff in the back.

"That was awesome!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. "You made Kurama blush!"

"Yeah, I never thought _that_ would happen!" Botan added.

"All I can say is, _wow_…" Yukina commented, with a nod of her head.

"Well, that moment of excitement is over. Let's all go and get those annoying all-day wristbands for unlimited rides!" Keiko cheered. All of them followed her to the ticket stand. "Seven all-day passes, please."

"All right." The ticket lady said with a smile. "Your total comes to… 20,603.65 yen, please."

The girls' eyes widened. "Holy cow that's expensive…"

"Once again, still glad Koenma is paying…" Botan grinned weakly with a sweatdrop as she handed over the money. "This is getting… expensive…wow…"

"Oh well, he'll have to pay for it, so why should we care?" Yukina asked with a smile.

Botan and Keiko blinked in confusion. "Are you getting… **bolder**, Yukina?" they asked quietly.

"Well, I guess I must be, and I am having fun with you all. This is also my first time going out with friends, so I am still new at acting human…" she replied with a smile.

"You may be new, but you sure do a good job at it." Kiechara complimented with a nod. "You've never really lived in the human world before, like Edana, but you're doing a better job of it than she is."

Edana snarled, but otherwise remained quiet as she put on her annoying paper bracelet. "This damn thing is gonna bug me all day…" she complained.

"Deal with it. You'll be having so much fun today that you'll barely even notice it's there." Shadou assured her. "All you'll have to do is show this to the ticket man and he'll let you on the rides." she explained.

"Why are we doing this again?" Edana asked defiantly. "We've been doing so many pointless things, I've forgotten what our initial purpose was!"

"We're doing this so you don't get depressed and do something you might regret. And, to get you used to human world life."

"That's right!"

"Come on! I wanna go on the roller-coaster!" Sakura whined. (A/N Yeah, JBVII, I know you wouldn't go on roller-coasters, but just go with it, okay?)

"All right, let's go…" Edana muttered, and followed Sakura to the roller coaster entitled 'Demon's Cave of Hell'. (A/N Yeah, I was originally gonna call it Demon's door cave, but that would be taken from the anime of Yu Yu Hakusho… besides, it's not a really good name for a roller coaster…)

After the entire twenty minutes of waiting in line, and the 180 seconds of roller-coaster riding, the group got off their car. Botan teetered over to the nearest garbage pail and hurled. "Ugh…remind me never to get on another roller coaster for as long as I live…" she muttered sickly.

"You're not really living, you're the Grim Reaper, remember?" Keiko pointed out to her. "You fly on an oar and carry dead souls across the river Styx, of course you're not alive!"

"Fine, then in the rest of my afterlife." she replied, wiping her mouth on a napkin. She paused and the others started to laugh.

"_Afterlife!_ That's a good one! Classic!" Sakura chuckled. After everyone had calmed down, she began to bounce up and down. "Can we go again?"

Botan became blue in the face. "I do believe I'll pass on that one…" she murmured, holding the napkin to her mouth again.

"Okay, _FINE!_ We'll go on a _less dangerous_ ride, then!" Sakura said, clearly annoyed. She was probably trying to give Botan the guilt trip, but it wasn't working.

"We'll go on the Scrambler, then!" Keiko offered. "We could also go on the Zipper, Tilt-A-Whirl, and…uhm… more roller coasters, Ferris wheel, and… uuh… "

"We'll go on them as we see them." Botan said, and gave the roller coaster an evil look. It was easy to see she wished it was human so when it died she could laugh in its face.

As they said, they went on rides. Edana enjoyed the roller coasters, so she went on again… and again… and again… She was frightened about her newfound interest in the recreational activities of the humans whom she had so despised. She couldn't believe that she was actually, _barely_, enjoying herself! Edana couldn't understand it, but she was having fun. And she had thought that the only joy and fun in life could be killing demons for a handsome sum. Then again, that was how she had made a living. She didn't know there was fun that didn't involve the pain, suffering, and deaths of others. This was a first for her, so she decided to wait it out and find other things to do with her friends.

After they had ridden on practically all the rides _at least_ twice, they began to play games and eat tons of junk food. Keiko was on a diet, but other than that, the others (being supernatural) had a higher metabolism. Edana didn't know what would happen, but she stays in shape pretty well, so she joined the demons in the consummation of junk foods.

About three hours later, they had left the amusement park. Edana was beginning to wonder if her having fun would ruin her reputation as an assassin for hire. Then again, would she ever be able to take another job? Did word already get out about her becoming human? Was her reputation for being cold and murderous tarnished forever? Or would she just fade away in the memories of the demon world occupants? She continued to ponder all her questions as they walked down a street. She wasn't very aware of her surroundings. Finally, she decided it would be okay to tell her friends what she had felt.

"Uhm… hey, you guys…"

"Yes?" they all asked in unison.

"… You know something…?"

Sakura grinned and replied in a deep and stupid voice, "No, I don't know anything! Who am I?"

"OOO! OOO! I know this one!" Yukina bounced up and down. "You're Kuwabara!" **_(A/N Ha-ha! Even when he's not present, it's still so amusing to be making fun of him…!)_**

The girls stared at Yukina in wonder. "You really _are_ getting bolder." Botan commented.

"Yeah, since when would she help make fun of Kuwabara? Or make fun of _anyone_ for that matter?" Keiko asked, awed.

"I've noticed lately how I've always been too easily pushed over. If I had been a bit stronger or something, I might not have been captured by that jerk, Tarukane." Yukina replied bitterly. "So, I've gradually become more strong. I actually like it being like this. Besides, you've only commented on how I'm bolder. You haven't criticized me about it, so I take it as a good thing."

"Yeah, we're not used to it, but you are who you are…" Shadou shrugged.

"Man, that sounded corny, Shadou!" Sakura commented. "Even though it's true, we don't need to hear all of this other than in our classes at school! MAN that gets annoying!"

"Tell me about it! If I've had a nickel for every time I've heard that…" Keiko complained. The girls stared at her intently. "What? I can hate school, too! I'm just better at it than some people!" she protested. **_(A/N coughkuwabaracough) _**

Edana stopped in front of a store. "Uhm, guys?" she spoke up.

Kiechara turned around and said calmly but firmly. "We aren't _male_, we're _fe_male. And, _yes_? Please speak."

"You said we were going to rent movies, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Is this the right place?" she asked, pointing her thumb over her shoulder at a store entitled 'blockbuster'.

The girls were shocked that Edana, who didn't know the first thing about being human, had actually pointed out where they were initially headed before they did. But they went in anyway. The mob of girls rented the movies Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the two movies that followed this one. They also got to rent the complete set of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

After renting all of the movies, they walked to the park. "Do you think Kurama really brought our things to Keiko's house?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

Kiechara's temple began to pulse rapidly. She turned on Sakura, and said heatedly "How _dare_ you think he wouldn't keep his word! I think he _did_! And you would be wise to do the same…" she added threateningly.

Sakura grinned nervously and sweat-dropped. "O-Okay…Whatever you say… aha ha ha…"

Kiechara noticed, she had taken off her mask, and immediately resumed her normal expression. Then, Edana spoke up. "Can we have a race? I want to test the limits of my human boundaries… Especially since I can't use any demon techniques anymore…"

"Alright." Sakura grinned eagerly.

Edana recognized Sakura's smug look. "But you can't use your demon powers! That'd be cheating!" she protested.

Botan, Keiko, and Yukina all nodded their heads in agreement. They didn't have any special demon powers that physically enhanced their bodies, so they would be at a disadvantage. And Botan didn't want to use her oar.

After deciding it would be a hundred meter dash from a large Sakura tree (decided by Sakura), they readied themselves for a quick sprint. "On your mark…" began Yukina, as everyone crouched to the ground, eyes set toward the finish line they drew in the dirt.

"…Get set…" Sakura added, signaling for them to prepare to take off.

"GO!" Kiechara cried out, and they were off! At first, Kiechara, Shadou and Keiko were in the lead, then Yukina and Botan caught up. Sakura and Edana, realizing they were falling behind, began to put the pedal to the metal. They shot ahead of the others, and remained there till the finish line was nearly directly in front of them. Sakura was a foot in front of Edana, and the finish was about three yards ahead.

"I win!" Sakura cheered.

"Wanna bet!" Edana replied angrily, as she shot past Sakura and over the finish line. Sakura turned into an old cartoon version of a whirlwind/tornado.

"Yaaay! She won!" the girls cheered happily. They never slowed down as they approached Edana, who had come to a complete, and sudden, stop. The girls all tackled her to the ground.

"Hey! It still hurts when you do that, you guys!" she laughed.

They all got up and helped each other to their feet. "So, I take it you're having some fun, now?" Keiko asked with a smile.

Edana turned around so that her back was facing them. "What's it to you?" she asked coldly, while crossing her arms. The girls all sighed and looked at the ground. So they hadn't succeeded after all… "Well… I wouldn't like to admit it, but…" she trailed off and turned her head slightly to the side, so they could see her smile.

Everyone cheered happily. Their mission was a success! Edana finally saw that she could turn to her friends for support and she also learned that being a human isn't as bad as everyone thought it was. "YES! Now let's go to my house and celebrate! We'll have a party and lots of fun!" Keiko said cheerfully.

Kiechara grinned and said, "How about we get some popcorn, and drinks to go along with the movies? Then we can prank call all the guys using my cell phone!" This caused every girl to burst into laughter.

After all their planning, they all went to Keiko's house to get ready to party. They dropped off the movies in the living room when Mrs. Yukimura poked her head in the room. "That cute boy friend of yours dropped off all those things you bought at the mall. They're in your room, Keiko… But where did you get all the money to buy so many things? All the price tags added up to over 91,876.58 yen!"

"Uhm… Shadou's grandfather is filthy rich…" Keiko lied.

"Oh, all right then." Mrs. Yukimura smiled, and retreated to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes.

Kiechara turned to Sakura and stuck her tongue out. "I told you so!"

"Hey, I was just wondering if it slipped his mind because of the kiss you gave him…" Sakura shrugged.

"Hey, the reason I kissed him would be a dead-ringer of what he had to do, wouldn't it?" Kiechara replied.

Yukina looked around the room. "Where did Botan go?" she asked, showing clear confusion.

"Keiko's gone, now, too." Shadou pointed out. "Where'd they go? Did they get lost, or something?"

After coming to this conclusion, they went outside. But, this only resulted in them getting sprayed down with a hose by Botan. Keiko walked out into the yard carrying a large basket full of water balloons. "WATER FIGHT!" Sakura cheered and grabbed three. She threw them all up into the air, and they all fell pathetically to the ground centimeters from where she stood.

Keiko set the basket down and grabbed two to throw at the hose-laden Botan. Botan was shocked at the ammunition thrown that she dropped the hose and was hit with them both. Soon, a full-scale water fight had been initiated. Edana watched in confusion at the strange antics of her friends. She began to understand the concept, and grabbed a balloon. Then, a wicked idea entered her mind. "Kiechara!" Kiechara turned instinctively at the call of her name, and was hit in the face with Edana's water balloon of doom. Edana was awestruck. "I…hit her…" she mumbled. Then, she repeated more enthusiastically, "I hit her!"

"And now _I've_ got _you_!" Kiechara grinned evilly, picking up the hose and spraying it at Edana, who hit the deck, and the stream of water, instead, hit both Shadou and Sakura. Both of which, unfortunately for Kiechara, were fully loaded with water balloons.

The water war waged for about ten to twenty more minutes. But, after awhile, Keiko's mom told them to come in because it was getting cold out. The girls had been having too much fun to notice the drop in temperature. However, after they slowed down from the activity, they realized they had been shivering.

As they were about to go inside, Edana threw one last water balloon at Botan. "HEY!" Who did that?" she protested. Everyone exchanged glances and shrugged. No one could tell that Edana was guilty. She played the cute innocent bit quite well. Then, they went into the house, dried off, changed into some of their new clothes, and cleared out the living room area. Keiko wore jean shorts, and a t-shirt that said '51 bad 49 good'. Botan had a blue mini-skirt, and a pink shirt that said 'all my black shirts were dirty'. Yukina had a sparkly light blue, long sleeve sweater, and a pair of sweatpants. Shadou wore a black shirt that had the words '100 Otaku', and a pair of dark blue sweats. Sakura had worn a gold and yellow pair of clothes that flattered her hair and eyes. Kiechara wore a pretty-and-sparkly angel-sleeve purple-and-lavender shirt with bell-bottom matching pants. And last, Edana wore a pair of jeans and a shirt that said 'Hi, how are you? That's nice. Now get outta my way before I kill you.' **_(A/N I have a key chain that says this. It's my favorite, next to my Hiei one…) _**

"Caffeine?" Keiko suggested.

"YEAH!" the girls cheered. "Sugar and junk food, too!"

"What kinds of soda?" she asked.

"Sierra Mist!" Edana replied automatically, which resulted in everybody bursting into laughter, remembering what Shadou had done to bribe Edana into coming out of her room.

"Root Beer! Root Beer! Root Beer!" Sakura chanted.

Shadou gave Sakura a look. "I swear, sometimes you act more like a monkey than a cat…"

"What? Do I act like Son Goku or something?" Sakura asked, giving Shadou puppy eyes, which had no effect.

"If you do, I'm Sanzo." Shadou rolled her eyes.

"No you aren't, you pacifist!" Kiechara protested.

"You're right. I'm more like Hakkai. You can be the twisted freaky monk." Shadou laughed.

"Why you little……Wait… that would make Edana, _Gojyo_!" Kiechara gasped.

"Yeah. I doubt she's a perverted, boy-chasing kappa…" Sakura said, stifling her laughter. But, her mind told her she _could_ be. 'If she said she had a right to a perverted mind…'

"Hello? I'm putting in the movie…" Keiko piped up.

"OOH! Which one?" Sakura bounced on the couch.

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." she replied, pressing play on the DVD menu. "Yukina! Are you ready?" she called to the kitchen.

"Yeah!" Yukina replied, walking into the living room with a cooler of sodas and a huge bowl of popcorn on top. "Sorry, I couldn't find the hot chocolate, caramel corn, or the cookies…"

"That's okay. I'll get them." Keiko replied, and went into the kitchen.

"When did you guys get the stuff ready?" Sakura questioned, confusion written all over her face.

"While you all were in a heated discussion about Gensoumaden Saiyuki." Keiko replied, coming back into the room with her arms laden with the rest of the snacks.

Botan hopped into the middle cushion on the couch, but slid off and settled on the floor. Keiko sat beside her, and Shadou sat on her other side. Sakura turned off the lights and dove to the ground in front of the TV. Kiechara sat calmly on the side of the couch that allowed her to rest her arm on the armrest. Yukina sat in front of Kiechara, and Edana laid on the rest of the couch that Kiechara didn't use up. They settled down and watched the movie, which had started on Privet Drive…

They had started watching movies at around 5:00 at night, but they, sadly, couldn't finish all the movies within the rest of the day. They had to stop at the end of Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire, because it was 3:17 in the morning. "Will you join us again for tomorrow to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy?" Shadou asked Edana, while rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Edana grinned, and replied, "Sure. If it's okay with you…"

Botan had long since fallen asleep against the wall. She snored, and fell to the ground. Kiechara, being one of the only nice ones still willing to help out so late, cleaned up and put the room back to how it was before the girls arrived. Edana even pitched in to help out. Sakura just wandered around like a zombie. After Keiko's living room was clean again, Kiechara dialed up Kurama's number again. A 'pip' was heard and Kurama's voice said, 'hello?'.

"Hey, Kurama. Can you give us all a ride to Genkai's? We don't want to walk all the way over there…" she murmured, trying to keep Sakura in line, because it was as if she was sleepwalking, which she probably was.

"Sure… Why do you sound like your old self, again?"

"I made a bet with Shadou, and she lost." Kiechara sniggered.

Kurama laughed, "Anyone could have told Shadou she would lose a bet with you! Sure, I'll be right over."

"Thanks for this. And thanks, also, for staying up so late."

"Yeah. See you in a little bit." Kurama finished, before he hung up his phone.

About fifteen minutes later, Kurama arrived. Sakura, now awake, nudged Botan to wake her up. "NNG… Izzit morning already? Where's my coffee?" she mumbled sleepily.

"It's 3:40 in the morning. Kurama's gonna bring us home to sleep... you shouldn't drink coffee, it stunts your growth." Sakura replied.

"Ogay…" Botan grinned goofily, and tried to get to her feet, and stumbled. But Edana stood beside her and helped to steady the drowsy ferrywoman.

The sleepy group climbed into Kurama's truck and readied themselves for the ride home. Before long, only Edana, and Kurama were still awake. (Kurama had to drive) She thought of all the things she had gotten to do with her newfound friends and all the new experiences. And, for the first time since before she could remember, she smiled. Not an evil, spacey, or forced smile, but a true, genuine one. Luckily for her reputation and her ego, no one noticed her sudden revelation of emotion.

Less than ten minutes later, everyone was sleepily climbing out of the truck to sleep in Genkai's temple. (Because of all the extra room, everyone has their own) Edana was about to climb into bed, already dressed in her white robe. Her door creaked open and the girls filed into her room. "What's going on?" she asked quizzically.

"We're gonna sleep in here, tonight." Kiechara stated. But, anyone knowing Kiechara, would translate that as, "Can we sleep in here, tonight?"

Edana grinned at her friends. "Yeah. Okay."

The girls were absolutely ecstatic that the day wasn't a waste. They quickly fetched their pillows and blankets. (all their rooms were 8 tatami mats, just so I can fit them all into the same room) Edana, in the meantime, put all of her sleeping gear on the floor, so as not to be rude. After everyone was settled, they all cuddled closer together. (not in a sick way for all of you perverts out there)

Later on that night, Edana became restless. After she had woken up for the fifth time in a half hour, she decided to take a walk out on the grounds. Maybe even train up her new, weak little human body. She quietly tiptoed out of the room and made for the training area. It had a great view of the night sky, and was surrounded by tall trees. And in her new state of mind, it was rather peaceful.

She began to wander around and finally decided to lay on the cool grass and stare at the sky. After a moment or two, she thought aloud, "It's actually pretty easy to be a human. Do I even want to be a demon again? … Be an assassin for hire and kill people to make a living? Well, it _was_ the way I've lived all my life since before I can remember ... But this new life seems pretty nice… Then again … what will I do about my reputation in Makai? Can I really just throw away my life's work? …" She paused in her thoughts, and debated in her mind. After about a minute or two of arguing with herself, she spoke aloud again. " I've decided. Yes, yes I can give up my demon life. I will even have friends to support me. Plus, even if I do become a demon again, if that could even happen, it will matter none. I'm sure they will still support me. " She smiled again after coming to this conclusion. She was no longer depressed or confused. Then, she began to ponder what her new life could, and probably will, be like.

After awhile, the bushes closest to her that separated the woods from the clearing began to rustle. She hopped to her feet. There was no wind, so it could merely be an animal. But in the worst case, it could be a demon and she was completely vulnerable. A moment or two passed and she relaxed. If it were a demon, he or she would have attacked by now. And the animal idea was already banished as a possibility… But what if that was the plan?

A large, broad hand clamped over her mouth, and another restrained her movement. She was frozen for a moment before her brain processed that she had been apprehended. After she had come to her senses, she began to struggle. And for the first time since she became human, she was truly afraid. Her captor, to stop her from struggling, hit her hard in the stomach so as to knock the wind out of her and placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. When she could breathe again, she inhaled the chemical soaked into the cloth. She realized with horror that it was chloroform. As her limbs began to get heavy, she couldn't fight back anymore, but her captor was naïve. He released her, and she kicked him where it hurts with all the strength she could summon. Then, she blacked out.

**_(A/N HA! Was that long or what? Used a lot of study halls to do this, I did! Well, it's not that long, but it's longer than my others, right? Okay, back to the story. I know, I'm evil for leaving you with a cliffhanger. So what? Come on, you're DYING to know what happens next, right? Don't lie to yourself. Well…maybe if you review I'll post the next one… heh heh heh… I also know what's gonna happen… and from now for the next… uuh… I wonder how many chapters that part will be… hmmm… ANYWAY review and I'll post my next chapter. SO, HA!)_**

**_Fire Demoness Jaganshi_**


	8. Rescue

Assassin for Hire

Chapter 8 Rescue

**_(Allo! FDJ here! my name is too long to write every time! It doesn't seem to me that many people are reviewing my story anymore… it makes me sad… insert sad face here And only my friends review right away… Do you know what that could do to a suicidal nut job that doesn't have her meds?! Obviously not… sigh Oh well, I'm still thankful for the reviewers I have… LOVE YA! XD)_**

Later on that night, Edana became restless. After she had woken up for the fifth time in a half hour, she decided to take a walk out on the grounds. Maybe even train up her new, weak little human body. She quietly tiptoed out of the room and made for the training area. It had a great view of the night sky, and was surrounded by tall trees. And in her new state of mind, it was rather peaceful.

She began to wander around and finally decided to lie on the cool grass and stare at the sky. After a moment or two, she thought aloud, "It's actually pretty easy to be a human. Do I even want to be a demon again? … Be an assassin for hire and kill people to make a living? Well, it _was_ the way I've lived all my life since before I can remember ... But this new life seems pretty nice… Then again … what will I do about my reputation in Makai? Can I really just throw away my life's work? …" She paused in her thoughts, and debated in her mind. After about a minute or two of arguing with herself, she spoke aloud again. " I've decided. Yes, yes I can give up my demon life. I will even have friends to support me. Plus, even if I do become a demon again, if that could even happen, it will matter none. I'm sure they will still support me. " She smiled again after coming to this conclusion. She was no longer depressed or confused. Then, she began to ponder what her new life could, and probably will, be like.

After awhile, the bushes closest to her that separated the woods from the clearing began to rustle. She hopped to her feet. There was no wind, so it could merely be an animal. But in the worst case, it could be a demon and she was completely vulnerable. A moment or two passed and she relaxed. If it were a demon, he or she would have attacked by now. And the animal idea was already banished as a possibility… But what if that was the plan?

A large, broad hand clamped over her mouth, and another restrained her movement. She was frozen for a moment before her brain processed that she had been apprehended. After she had come to her senses, she began to struggle. And for the first time since she became human, she was truly afraid. Her captor, to stop her from struggling, hit her hard in the stomach so as to knock the wind out of her and placed a cloth over her mouth and nose. When she could breathe again, she inhaled the chemical soaked into the cloth. She realized with horror that it was chloroform. As her limbs began to get heavy, she couldn't fight back anymore, but her captor was naïve. He released her, and she kicked him where it hurts with all the strength she could summon. Then, she blacked out.

The next morning, Yusuke burst into their room, shouting "HEY! GET UP! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" Of course, everyone was wide-awake now.

"What is it? This had better not be about you losing to Kuwabara in a videogame." Kiechara said menacingly.

"HEY! I'm serious!"

"So am I!"

"Shut up and let me talk!"

"Now that's not nice. Why don't you use your manners, first?"

"You're talking to _me_ about _manners_?!"

"Good point. You have none. Continue."

"Get dressed and come down to the kitchen. We need to talk." After saying that, he left the room and was heard running down the stairs, tripping, cursing as he fell the last few steps, and running off again.

"Well, well, well, a klutzy, bossy teenager. What a combination." Kiechara commented, earning a chorus of laughter from the other girls.

They all got dressed as he had told them to do and headed downstairs. But Yukina was quieter than usual.

"Okay, what is it?" Sakura asked. "You all had better have a good reason for interrupting my beauty sleep!"

Shadou elbowed her friend in the stomach and shushed her. "Quiet! Koenma-sama's here. Things are serious."

Yukina glanced around the room for almost the fifth time. "Nee, Edana-chan wa doko desu ka?" (Hey, where's Edana-chan?) she asked curiously.

"That would be the reason we called you all here." Kurama put in. "She's missing, and we have no idea where she went off to."

"Could she have run away?!" Keiko asked a bit angrily. "After all we did yesterday, she'd just LEAVE?"

Kiechara put her foot down firmly. "No. Edana wouldn't be that stupid. She knows that she could be in danger if she went off alone. Besides that, if she had wanted to run, there were many chances yesterday."

"From the washcloth we found, we could draw a reasonable conclusion that she was kidnapped. There were traces of chloroform on it." Genkai said, walking into the room.

"Genkai, has he said anything?" Yusuke asked, looking at his master.

Genkai looked at the newly enlarged group of people. "He hasn't said a word." She replied. "Says he don't want to risk being killed."

"Who?" Botan asked curiously.

"It's a demon we found a few feet from where we found the washcloth. He was unconscious." (it's the demon Edana kicked in the family jewels) Koenma replied. "Maybe _you_ can get something out of him."

The group of girls walked into the kitchen that Genkai had just left. In the middle, bound by a piece of (really thick) rope, sad a large, horned demon. "Torture me, interrogate me, I won't say a thing." The demon insisted.

"I have one question for you. Did you kidnap our friend?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"Now that I can answer. Yes."

That was all they needed to hear. A dark, evil aura began to emanate from the ERT's bodies as they cracked their knuckles menacingly. "Where is she…?" they snarled at him.

"ACK!!! Ok! Ok! I'll talk!" the demon squeaked, cowering in fear.

"Nnng…" Edana mumbled as she finally regained consciousness. "What the hell happened to me?" She remembered in a flash what happened last night… or… whenever night that could have been. For all she knew, she could have been unconscious for days! She shook her head as she realized that she was kidnapped. Then, sighing, she decided that she would observe her surroundings. She was sitting on a stone floor in a wide expanse of a cavern. The floor was cold, and she noticed that it wasn't the only cold contact on her body. She looked down and saw that her wrists and ankles were shackled and chained to the wall she leaned on. "SHIT!!!" she cursed loudly. Shit… it…it… "Great, a cavern that mocks me." She muttered sarcastically.

After her cuss echo died away, she heard footsteps approaching, with their own echoes. "So I see you're awake, now, _lady_ Edana." Said a voice, showing disgust for her title. "Do you find your accommodations to be tasteful?"

Edana knew that voice anywhere. "Shut up, Senryaku." She snapped, looking at him as he came into view. "Or I'll sick Joshu on you. He'll tear you to pieces."

"Oh, I'm not afraid of your minions." Senryaku laughed. "_You're_ not even a force to be reckoned with."

"Don't forget, you made me this way!" she spat acidly.

"That poison was supposed to kill you. I'm surprised you even survived. Now, I'll finish the job. But first, I want you to suffer."

"Why?"

Senryaku looked taken aback. "You… you don't know why?" Edana shook her head. " Your damn parents destroyed my father's business! That, and you rejected me when I was trying to find some way to compromise our families' deep rift!"

"So…. in other words… you had a schoolboy's crush on me?" Edana guessed.

"ARGH!" he threw his hands up in frustration. "YOU do not see the POINT!"

"Then, please, elaborate."

" One, your parents destroyed my parents' business. Two, you didn't even _try _to make a compromise that could have saved _both_ of our families. And three-" He stopped, and looked away, blushing. "Er…"

Edana smirked gleefully. "Oh, let me guess… I hurt your feelings, riiiight?" she asked, leaning on the wall.

He whirled on her angrily. "STFU! That is not true!"

Edana observed that he was still blushing. "Oh? So, then why are you so embarrassed? I must have gotten it, otherwise you would not be so flustered."

Senryaku gasped and coughed, straightening up again. "Yes, you're right. I am sorry."

Edana raised an eyebrow. "Uhm… I may just be an amateur evil leader or whatever, but… do evil leaders _ever_ apologize to their captives? … Just asking…"

Senryaku gaped at her. Once his shock had passed, he was at her side in a second and a dagger was pressed to her throat. She shut up instantly.

Senryaku was completely pissed off now. "You couldn't guess that I wanted you dead last time?!"

"Last ti-, OH! The demon puppet!" she gasped.

"Yes, but apparently you don't die so easily. I'll have to kill you myself."

"Now that's not very nice…"

"NO SHIT!"

"That's not very nice, either."

"You… are seriously…starting to… piss-me-off!" he snarled, trembling with anger.

"So much for 'loving' me like before…"

"Quit making fun of me!" he ordered, not even trying to mask his whine.

"Just kill me now! _Please!_ Have mercy! I'm _begging_ you! I can't _stand_ to hear you _whining!_ Pleeeeaaase kill me!" she begged sarcastically.

Senryaku pressed his knife to her throat again, once again silencing her. "You do not seem to realize the situation you're in. Your life is in _my_ hands now. Unless you'd prefer to die _sooner_?"

"Alright. I wouldn't _want_ to _suffer_."

"Screw that!" he snapped angrily. "ACE!" he shouted down a corridor that Edana had yet to notice.

A sound not unlike nails clicking on stone echoed from the dark corridor. It didn't sound like whatever was walking their way walked on four feet, either. Even though she had lost all of her youki, she could feel the tension in her body as a malicious energy came closer.

Edana's eyes widened in fear as she faced Senryaku. "Ace? ACE!? You hired that filthy human murderer!?" she demanded, wide-eyed.

"Yes? And your point…?"

Edana masked her anxiety and said in a desperate attempt, "But, he only picks on _humans_… why didn't you get a _demon_ torturer?"

Senryaku smirked, realizing he now had the upper hand. He saw through her façade. "There's no need. You're perfectly human right now. I think he could handle this job" He materialized a chair and sat down to watch the show.

Just then, Ace, the tiger-demon known for killing, torturing, and mutilating humans clicked into the room. "You're paying me _that much_ to kill _this_ puny weakling?" He asked with a throaty growl.

"Do not sweat the details, Ace. Just do it and make it qui-… scratch that, make it slow."

'Shit…' thought Edana.

(the group is running across the demon plane) Shadou and Sakura couldn't stop laughing. Apparently, the demon they had captured had woman problems and didn't want to deal with three women he had never met, too. Kiechara found it vaguely amusing at first, but now she began to get annoyed by their laughter. "Shut up! It wasn't _that_ funny!" Yusuke snapped angrily.

"Girl power!" Sakura cheered.

"I am woman, feel my wrath!" Shadou added before they started to laugh hysterically again.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and looked at Hiei. "Could you find her? Use your Jagan so we don't have to listen to _these_ two anymore."

Hiei snorted and ripped off his bandanna so that his eye could see. When he saw what was going on miles away, he muttered, "We'd better hurry."

Shadou glanced at him. "Why? What's going on?"

Kiechara's tail bristled as she let out a barely audible snarl, "Is she in trouble?"

"Let's just say that if we don't get there soon, you might not be able to recognize her." Hiei mumbled. "Ace is there."

"EEEP!!!" Sakura shrieked and sped off, along with her other two friends.

"Guess we better pick up the pace." Yusuke snickered and charged after them, followed by Kuwabara. Hiei just darted past them all, having to lead the blind party to wherever she was being held.

"Remember, Ace, don't kill her off too fast. We need her to _suffer_, alright?" Senryaku smirked, adding dry humor to the scene.

Edana coughed up a small amount of blood and lay on the floor. "Hnnn…" she groaned. Ace had left claw marks and slashes all along her arms, legs, and torso. Hmph, at least this demon had decency; he left her enough clothes to cover her more _feminine_ parts. The first thing that ran through her mind as it cleared was that she could never wear this robe again. 'Funny what goes through your mind when you're slowly being killed off.' She thought bitterly and laughed. Immediately regretting her laugh, she doubled over in pain and coughed again.

Senryaku made a motion that allowed Ace to stop. He sat in a corner obediently, and began cleaning his bloody claws with a purr. Then, the evil leader walked up to his captive and rolled her over with the heel of his boot, making her wince. "Does it hurt?"

Edana couldn't resist the perfect moment for sarcasm. "No, not really. I would fancy a cup of tea after we're done here."

It _may_ have been the perfect opportunity for sarcasm, but it was definitely _not_ the right time and/or situation. Senryaku kicked her in the stomach, _hard_. "Still cocky, eh? Do you believe _someone_ will come to your rescue? Do you hope that some _valiant knight_ will come and _whisk_ you away?"

"Hardly." She coughed, holding her stomach gingerly. "The people _I'm_ thinking of are _far_ from being called _valiant knights_."

Senryaku raised an eyebrow with an amused look. "Oh? If you tell me who they are, I suppose your inevitable death could be postponed momentarily… probably. And, as an added bonus, they'll soon join you in the afterlife. You won't be lonely."

Edana forced herself into a sitting position. It wasn't that she wanted them to die; it was so she could regain her strength a little before he continued. Hey, with a little luck, she might even survive until they got there… _If they were even coming_… Boy, that gruesome thought nearly diminished all her hope of surviving. Better stay away from the morbid thoughts until she was rescued… _If she was going to be_… Stop doing that!

"All of them are Reikai Tantei. Two from Ningenkai, the other five from Makai. All of them are formidable opponents. Even _you_ wouldn't be a match for them all. And I am positive they will be coming for me." _Yeah right._

"Well, we'll just have to kill you off quickly, won't we?"

_Wha- wha- what did you just say?! Did that not affect you?!_

"If I kill you off, then I don't care if I do die. Lock me up and throw away the key. I'll still have accomplished my goal."

_Crap… I was hoping that would shake you up… Guess I'm screwed unless they come sometime soon. If they're even coming! Wait, even if Yusuke and the others don't, Shadou, Kiechara, and Sakura will. I'm positive of that. They would never abandon me._

Hiei cursed and closed his Jagan. "I've never kept it open so long to see over such a large distance." He explained.

"B-but Hiei! How are we gonna find her if you can't sense her?!" Sakura complained worriedly.

"She has a point, Hiei. We can't find her without your help." Kuwabara agreed.

Sakura grimaced, "EEEW… the ugly one agreed with me…"

"Who're you callin' ugly?!" Kuwabara demanded.

"Just use your spirit awareness, baka." Hiei snapped angrily.

Sakura stopped and pricked her ears. She looked northeast of where they were. "She's over that way!" she exclaimed, pointing dramatically. "But she's further away than she was before… what happened, Hiei?"

Hiei snorted, "Well if you wanted to fight through an entire village of warrior demons, be my guest. We could have gone straight through and been exhausted by the time we got there. We can always go back."

"No, we're fine." Yusuke smirked. "Lets just go before she gets into even deeper trouble than she already is."

Ace had resumed his butchering session. But now, Edana merely grunted as she was slowly torn to shreds. She wouldn't give her enemy the pleasure of knowing he was succeeding. Eventually, Senryaku noticed. "Ace, stop for a minute, would you? I'll be nice right now and let you have one good slice."

Ace looked delighted, like a kitten that had just gotten a catnip toy. "Alright…! Finally!" he grinned. Edana masked her sudden fleeting fear. Ace raised his large clawed paw/hand, and with one quick swipe, Edana felt the skin on her shoulder part in four identical places. She screamed in pain, for the wound was deep. It had to be at least eight inches long and an inch deep: going from her back, up and over her left shoulder. The searing pain blinded her for a few moments, and when her senses finally returned, she saw colored spots hanging in the air in front of her eyes. She was dazed.

Senryaku blinked stupidly, "Was that really all it took for you to scream like that? Humans are really weak creatures."

Edana panted, trying to regain her breath and to numb her thoughts from the throbbing pain in her shoulder. If she didn't die from blood loss, Senryaku would kill her himself. She smirked bitterly and coughed up some blood. Could it really end like this?

Senryaku noticed that Edana was just about at her limit. He smirked and waved Ace away. There was no way he would let hired help finish the job for him. This revenge was his, and his alone. "Now, you can be with your parents again… in the afterlife."

_Parents? I had parents? … How come I can't remember? … Come to think of it, why didn't I realize it before when he mentioned my parents…? I don't get it… _

"Now, you can be with the _scum_ from which you were born." He snarled, acid dripping from his tone.

"Don't… don't you talk about my parents like that…" she rasped, before she realized she had spoken. _Why did I say that…? I can't even remember them, so why do I defend them…? _Edana realized that she had a feeling that she should be indebted to her parents. Something like the debt of being saved or spared some horrible fate. She couldn't even remember what they _looked_ like.

Senryaku snorted angrily. "I'll talk about them however I want! They're evil, conniving wretches who stole my inheritance from me! I damn them to eternal torment!"

Edana pushed herself to her knees. "Stop…" she muttered hoarsely.

"Your parents were corrupt, only concerned with fattening their wallets with money!"

Now, she pushed herself to her feet. Where was this anger coming from? More importantly, where was this new _power_ coming from?! How did she have the energy to stand?! "I told you to… KNOCK IT OFF!" she roared, and a shockwave of power shot out from her form. She could no longer feel any pain from her wounds. She was only conscious of this burning desire to tear him to shreds. The blood pumping through her veins seemed on fire, but it was a pleasant feeling. Suddenly, she felt completely energized.

"Oh, shit…" Ace cursed. "I'm sorry Senryaku, but I do NOT have a death wish!" The tiger demon began to leave for the corridor, but then he realized that Edana was between him and his only means of escape. Unfortunately, he was within distance of her.

She glared coldly at him. "No death wish?" she asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. He swallowed hard and shook his head 'no'. "_So_ sorry to hear that…" she pouted sarcastically, still in her falsely innocent voice. Edana raised her hand and with a fluid movement faster than untrained eyes can see, cut off Ace's head; which rolled off and came to a halt a meter from his body.

Senryaku hadn't noticed he had started trembling. Where did this power of hers come from? He should have sensed danger when she stopped breathing hard and stuttering! He stepped back in alarm when she fixed her calmly furious gaze on him. Unless he did something, she would surely kill him! He stepped back and began to raise his youki in an attempt to defend himself against her attack.

The group of spirit detectives had closed in on the property, and could now feel a strong energy radiate from a room somewhere near the south wall, on the other side of the compound. An explosion resounded and the ground shook beneath their feet. "Are they using dynamite on one lonesome girl?!" Kurama asked in shock.

The three female spirit detectives darted through the trees faster than they had been going. They had to save Edana! The boys ran after them. _**(A/N you just gotta love how much faster and stronger these guys get when they know someone close to them is in trouble! XD!)**_

They approached the place where the explosion had happened, and found a gaping hole in the wall and rubble littered around. "Edana!" the girls cried into the hole before hopping up and into the castle, with the boys close behind.

Their eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden darkness of the cavern. What they saw there made all but the most stoic of them gasp in shock. A colossal silver serpent was coiled around one close area. It had silver eyes, silver scales, ivory claws, and a pure black mane that went from the back of its head to almost the tip of its tail. It snarled and struck as fast as lightning, and reared it's head. Its fangs were coated with blood, and it struck one final time, coming back up with even more blood on its snout.

"What-the-hell?" Yusuke cursed. "Just what _is_ that thing?!"

"It's a dragon." Hiei replied in a monotone. "Can't you tell?"

Kuwabara turned to him and asked, " But don't dragons breathe fire and have wings?"

"You moron, you're _from_ Japan and you can't recognize a _Japanese Dragon_?" Sakura muttered. "Japanese dragons don't look anything _like_ that."

The dragon in question reared its head and fixed its slitted gaze on the group. Hiei stared at it for a moment before he said, "It's female."

"Hiei! How could you! You don't stare at things like that!" Sakura gasped.

Hiei shook his head and pointed to the dragon. "Her eyes have a slant and her scales glitter. Not to mention how her body curves more. It's easy to see it's a girl… And I'm surprised you three haven't recognized her, yet." Hiei muttered, glancing at the European Reikai Tantei.

"You mean…" Shadou began, turning from Hiei to the dragon. "-this is _Edana_?"

The dragon pricked her ears at the sound of her name and walked/slithered toward the group. She lowered her head and made a sound like Kirara's tiger-form. "EEEW! Edana, _wipe your mouth_ when you're done…" Sakura grimaced at her bloodstained chops. The dragon 'smirked' and nudged Sakura with her bloody nose. "HEY!" she protested.

Shadou, Yusuke, and Kuwabara laughed. Edana lowered her body to the floor and laid waiting. Hiei spoke up, "She says she'll give you a ride back to Koenma's."

"Dragons like this _fly_?" Kuwabara gasped.

"YEAH!" Shadou rolled her eyes.

He looked nervously at Edana's smooth scales. "Where's the seatbelts on this thing?"

Edana rolled her eyes and grumbled. Hiei smirked and said, "She said 'moron'."

"What!? I'm not a moron!"

She 'smirked' and grumbled again, and Hiei had an amused look. " 'Chicken'." He translated.

"She's not gonna stop, you know." Shadou pointed out. "No matter how many times you protest, she'll think up tons of new names."

Edana looked at Hiei, and a moment of silence passed before Hiei let loose a snicker. "What? What did she say?" Kuwabara demanded.

" 'Idiot, moron, stupid, fool, dim-wit, imbecile, dope, slow, and'- what was the last one?" Hiei asked, turning to her. Edana grunted, and he translated " And 'retard'."

Kuwabara silently fumed, not wanting to take on a, however heavy she was, dragon. "Alright! Let's get going!" Sakura cheered and tried to jump up onto Edana's back. She flew gracefully through the air… and slammed into Edana's armored side. "Owww…" she moaned, sliding to the ground.

Edana made a sound similar to stones grinding, which could be recognized as a laugh. She slipped her tail around her friend's middle and set her on her own back. Kurama grinned and volunteered to go next. Edana gently curled her tail around the fox's midriff and set him on her back. Kiechara stomped her foot, and her tail bristled. "I'm going next!" she hissed, leaving no room for argument. Edana complied and set her friend behind Kurama.

"Getting protective, are we?" Kurama smirked gleefully.

Kiechara snorted and looked away to the far corners of the cavern. "I believe you're right." Sakura giggled. "Do you see something over there that's interesting, Kiechara?"

Kiechara turned angrily to her friend. "I _will_ get you back for that. Nature is _always_ beautiful to me."

A few minutes later, everyone had boarded on Edana's back. Hiei sat on her head, instead of with the others. He translated, "She says, 'hold on.'"

"I _am_ holding on!" Kuwabara snapped, indicating his fingers tangled into her mane. "There's no way in hell I'm letting go!"

Edana ignored him and rose slowly to her feet. She climbed out of the hole in the wall and jumped high into the air, and stayed aloft on the breeze. "Whoa!" the group cried out.

"Wait!! Hiei! How come _you_ get the front seat?!" Yusuke called out to the spiky haired fire demon.

"Yeah! For all _we_ know, you guys could be talking all _romantic_ and _mushy_ and stuff!" Sakura agreed, with a smirk.

Hiei replied, "Because I'm the only one who can speak to her, and translate it for you. And, if I sat back there, you might not be able to hear me from the wind pressure."

"Who says we're _trying_ to hear you?" Kiechara retorted, earning a snicker from her other friends.

There were a few minutes of silence as the group observed the view of the Makai forests. When they had been flying for about ten minutes, Sakura spoke up. "Hey, if Edana is a Japanese dragon, how come she isn't nice like most Japanese dragons are supposed to be?"

"Yes, you do have a point." Kurama agreed, holding his chin between his forefinger and thumb in a thoughtful expression. "Why is she so vicious?" Edana let out a throaty growl that Hiei didn't need to translate. It was most definitely a warning to watch his mouth. "Well, I'm just _saying_…" he protested.

"Hey, do you think she could have European descent?" Shadou inquired. "I mean, she has the physical and magical build of the Japanese dragon, but she has the temperament of one from Europe… and isn't the name 'Edana' Celtic in origin?" _**(A/N heh heh… it's true. That's why there isn't a translation for her name in any Japanese dictionary. 'Edana' means 'tiny flame' and is Celtic or Gaelic in origin.)**_

"Hey! You're right!" Kiechara agreed. "I'm not sure about the name origin part, but she _does_ act like she's from Europe! Then again, she _did_ work with us for almost a year…"

"But she's _always_ had a bad attitude!" Sakura pointed out.

"True. She's always had a short temper." Kiechara agreed.

Edana snorted angrily, growling at her friends. Hiei translated, " 'Knock it off or this'll be your stop!'."

"I rest my case." The vixen stated calmly, with an amused smirk. Edana rolled her eyes in annoyance.

A few minutes later, Kuwabara called out, "Hey! I think I see Koenma's castle!"

"Yes, it appears you are right." Kurama commented, holding up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "It seems to be the castle, alright."

Edana's body shuddered and tensed. "…what the hell was that?" Yusuke asked in confusion.

Hiei exchanged a few silent words with their chauffer, before turning to the rest of the group and shouting, "Everyone, jump off! Quickly!"

"What the hell?! Are you nuts?! We'll be killed!" Kuwabara shouted back.

"Just do it!" Hiei ordered angrily. Although, before anyone could even prepare to jump off, Edana made a loop-de-loop and the group fell onto a clear, yet solid, …_thing_.

"What the heck is going-" Yusuke began, but before he could even utter his question, Edana tumbled out of the sky and glided toward a group of trees. There was a loud crash as she crashed into the centuries-old trees and finally came to a stop. The platform that the had landed on descended to the ground and they ran over to where Edana had crashed.

"Edana!" they called, but instead of finding a dragon's body, they saw a human-sized body with a tattered and torn white robe spattered with dried blood. "Edana…?" they repeated cautiously. "Are you alright…?"

She sat up and cursed. "Damn that hurt." The fact that she was in a humanoid form wasn't the big shock to them. What _was_ the shock was that her hair, eyes, and ears had all reverted back to her demon form!

"E-Edana?! You're back to normal? You're a demon again?" Her friends asked in shock.

"Huh?" Edana blinked stupidly. "Demon? Since when?" Sakura pointed to her head… and her hair. Edana pulled a few strands of her hair out where she could see it. It was jet black, just like it used to be. She felt her ears, too. Pointed, just like they used to be. "Uh-huh…. So…how does _that_ work?"

The group shrugged. They were just as perplexed as _she_ was. Nobody knew how she had reverted back to her demon form again. "Well, then… Shall we go to see Koenma?" Kiechara asked.

"Uhm… could somebody help me up? My legs won't move…" Edana grinned sheepishly.

"What? Why not?" Shadou asked curiously.

Hiei grunted. "I told her not to expend so much of her energy by flying us all the way here. She's too weak to move." He explained.

"No big deal. I'll walk by myself, then." Edana snapped, getting unsteadily to her feet. She stumbled and almost collapsed, but Hiei grabbed her hand to hold her upright. Before she could protest, he slipped an arm around her waist. She stiffened. "What the- Get your hands off me!" she spat.

"You can't walk, can you?" He demanded.

"No, but-"

"Then shut up and deal with it!" he ordered, giving her a cold stare.

She sighed in defeat. "Fine… But don't you _dare_ try anything _funny_!"

Hiei looked at her. "Me? With you? Not a chance. You're not worth it." He smirked sadistically.

Edana seemed incredulous as Hiei and her began to move toward the front gates. "Wha- do you have _any_ idea as to _who_ you're talking to? I'll have you know that the bounty in Makai is more than you've ever seen in your entire life!"

Hiei turned to her and retorted, "How would you know that? Maybe the bounty of a 'traitor' of the demon race is worth more than _yours_ times _ten_!"

"Care to test the theory?!"

"Why test it when we already know the outcome?"

"You're right. Mine would win hands down."

"Wrong."

The rest of them walked behind, casually observing the others' bickering, which _was_ quite amusing. After awhile, Sakura spoke up. "Whose reputation do _you_ think is bigger?"

"I'll bet that their _egos_ are bigger." Kiechara smirked.

"_I'm_ not touching _that_ bet." Shadou muttered. Kurama laughed.

A few minutes later, everyone had arrived in the front lobby of the castle. Kurama turned to Edana. "You should get those wounds treated." He stated.

Edana remained silent. "Edana…? He's right. You should get your wounds treated." Kiechara agreed. Still she remained quiet.

Hiei groaned, "She's asleep. Someone take her! I'm not going to be the one to drag her all around this place."

Kiechara laughed lightly and spoke up "We'll take her."

Sakura looked at her incredulously. "We will?!" she exclaimed in pure shock.

Shadou whipped out a harisen and smacked her friend alongside her head. "Baka-no. Of course we will. We're her friends."

"That's right." Kiechara nodded in agreement. "Besides, there's no way we'll trust an unconscious girl with any amount of perverted guys. _Kurama's_ the only trustworthy guy around here."

Kurama forced a smile, and said between his teeth, "I'm not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult…"

Kiechara pouted innocently. "It was a _compliment_, I _assure_ you…" she gasped in a falsely innocent voice. He rolled his eyes. "Well, let's get this unconscious girl away from the perverts!"

Sakura and Shadou cheered, "Yeah!" before each taking one of her arms and getting her off Hiei's shoulder.

The girls took her and began to walk down the hall. After they were out of sight, Yusuke slung an arm around the young kitsune's shoulder, "So… tell us, Kurama… Just _how far_ exactly have you gotten with Kiechara?"

Kurama looked at him incredulously. "_Excuse_ me?" he choked out, in shock. "What was that insinuation?"

Yusuke nudged the fox with his elbow. "You _know_ what I mean…" he sniggered.

Kurama blinked stupidly, which is something he _never_ does, no matter _what_ the circumstances. "Seriously… no I don't," he protested. "What are you trying to say?"

Yusuke sighed in exasperation. "How long have you been dating her? How long, and how far did you go?"

"_Me_? A-and _Kiechara_?" Kurama sputtered. "Are you _serious_?" His eyes were wide. "We aren't dating! We don't care about each other like that!"

Kiechara popped up next to him. "Aww, is that true, Kurama? I'm hurt…" she pouted.

"K-Kiechara!" Kurama exclaimed.

"Yes. I have acute hearing when it comes to my own name." She smirked, punching him playfully. "And are you embarrassed? You're embarrassed to be thought of dating me?"

Kurama regained his composure. "No… I just wanted to know what they were thinking." he lied.

Shadou and Sakura came back to the group, then. "So, should we go see Koenma?" Shadou suggested.

"What for?" Kuwabara complained.

"What do you think, baka?" Hiei snapped.

Kurama put in, "We have to tell him we successfully rescued her, and that she's in the hospital wing."

Kiechara smirked, "And that _foxy-boy_ here is being teased about maybe having a girlfriend."

Kurama made a face and looked away. The rest of them went to Koenma's office to file the report.

**_(A/N Well, how did you like that long chapter? I hope it was to your liking! XD …and, yes, this story originally started out as an OC/character pairing, but as I've said so many times before, it's not gonna turn out that way, anymore! …shifty eyes… now it's gonna be an OC/OC pairing… hee hee… And I apologize to all you Kurama or Hiei fan girls out there. Fine, I'll just say it right here. For quite a long time, it's gonna be an OC/Hiei pairing, but don't worry, that'll change! …I can't change the Kurama/friend's OC pairing…. It'll end up that way no matter what… But, I'll let y'all in on a 'lil secret… grin I cloned Kurama so he could be in two places at once! _**

_**AAANYWAYS… I hope y'all will review this story… I want reviews… and Christmas/ my birthday is ova… Please? I'll be yer fweeeend…. puppy eyes…**_

**_Fire Demoness Jaganshi )_**


	9. Recuperation

Assassin for Hire

Chapter: 9

Recuperation

_**(A/N FDJ is once again here! I have already decided to post my next chapter, and what's it been? Two weeks? HA! I'm in the mood to write, so I shall! BTW, yourtypicalpsyco, I LOVE YOU!!! I can't believe it was only hours after posting that I got a new reviewer! And they like my story! XD! The same goes for you, BrokenRedWings! …My happy pills are working too well… I'm chirping way too much… O.o… anyway… this chapter is going to be mostly Edana-centric. So please don't forget about the main characters!!) **_

It's been at least three days since Edana had fully recovered. Still, she stayed in her room a lot, thinking about things. Her friends figured she was at war with herself, now that she was a demon again. Would she want to go back to Makai? Or, rather, would she choose to stay with them and go to school like a human? On the fourth day, Koenma had summoned her to his office. "Edana. I've noticed how depressed you've seemed since you've recovered, and I figure you must be homesick. I'm granting you permission to go home for a month, as long as you return."

Edana blinked stupidly for a moment. "Homesick? Is that what it is?" she asked, still seeming as if she were in a daze. "Maybe I _should_ go home…"

"I will tell the others, and you may leave immediately."

Edana briefly regained some of her spark as she smirked, "You sure it's wise to let me go? You're not gonna put a leash on me? What if I don't return?"

"If you decide not to return one month from now, I will send the Spirit Defense Force after you. _All_ of them."

Edana laughed as she grabbed her katana and held it to her waist. "How are you going to get me home?"

"Where do you live?"

"Around the edge of the Akuma district." Edana replied. "Mine is the only mansion around that place."

"Well, I can drop you in the city…" Koenma suggested.

"Do it."

(A short while later…) Edana walked through the market of the Akuma district. She smirked as she recognized one of her former servants who had betrayed her, gambling with borrowed money. Maybe she should kill him and put him out of his misery… Nah. Let him suffer.

Edana was used to all the riff-raff that inhabited these streets. Most of them were from somewhere else in Makai. But those of them who knew her around here jumped to get out of her way. Ahh… It's good to be home. She allowed her expression to shift into a sadistic smirk. She reached the edge of the plaza and headed for the forest. There might be bandits in here… Well, it's good exercise.

There were no bandits that appeared. She was a bit disappointed; the ones who had been here last must have finally gotten the hint that they would die if they crossed her path.

After walking for about an hour, she came upon a clearing. In the center, was a castle. "OI!!" she called out. "OI!!!!" she shouted louder. There was a crash from somewhere inside the castle. "Godammit, Joshu get your ass out here!!!" she roared.

"C-coming my lady!" a man's voice replied feebly. There was a sound of footsteps before a young man appeared in the doorway. "Forgive me Lady Edana!" he gasped and bowed VERY low.

"Get your ass in gear." She snapped angrily. "Just because I've been gone for a long time doesn't mean you get to slack off! As punishment, you'll have to cook dinner tonight for not only _me_, but the rest of the servants as well. Understand?"

The young man, Joshu, bowed his head. "Yes, my lady." He answered. Then, he raised his head, and stood tall. And he _was_ tall. About 6'2", he was. If a stranger saw them right now, they would have been fooled into thinking _Joshu_ was the lord of the castle. He was tall, with long black hair tied just below his neck with a white ribbon.**_ (A/N ha, he's girly!)_** His eyes glowed a dark violet color. The only thing that didn't seem regal about him was his servant's attire.

"And one more thing…" Edana added.

"Yes, my lady?"

"Prepare a bath for me."

"Yes, of course. Right away." He bowed and scurried off to the bathhouse.

Later, after Edana's bath, she walked into her chamber in her robe. She saw Joshu on his hands and knees bowing before her. "Joshu? Do you have something to report to me?" she asked, flicking her wet hair over her shoulder and sitting on her bed.

"Uhm…yes, my lady."

"Speak."

"Yes." He nodded and stood up. "It seems that, while you were away, some demons have been spreading rumors that you've gone soft and resigned yourself to consorting with humans."

Edana raised an eyebrow and smirked. "They have, have they?" She rose to her feet and ordered, "Joshu! Get my sharpest katana ready."

Joshu's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Are we going on another killing spree, my lady?"

"Do you even need to _ask_, Joshu? I can't have my reputation tarnished by these lowlifes." She replied. "And you're coming with. Sharpen your blades."

Not a day later, most of the rumor-spreaders had been _mysteriously_ killed. The young man with unusual red stains and his charge, the little woman with the bloody katana had _nothing_ to do with it. They were just out for a stroll in a dark alley. Nothing more.

"Are there any more rumor spreaders, Joshu?" Edana asked, wiping the blood off her blade with a handkerchief she found in the pocket of one of her victims. "I have a feeling that you aren't telling me."

Joshu hung his head as he hooked his strangely shaped weapons to his belt. **_(A/N they're similar to deerhorn knives)_**"Er… Yes, my lady… I just didn't want you to go all crazy." He admitted, bracing himself.

"Joshuuu ……" she cooed in her sickeningly sweet voice. "HOW DARE YOU SAY I WOULD GO 'CRAZY'!!!!"

He bowed over and over. "I'm sorry! But… this one demon is the source of the rumors, and he is almost an S-class!"

"I don't care who, or how strong he is. He has to die." Edana retorted, still fuming from the 'crazy' remark.

"But… He's…"

"What is he? Tell me. That's an order."

"He's sir Senryaku's twin brother, Sentarou…" Joshu finished with a sigh. He raised his eyes to see what his lady's reaction was.

Edana's eyes went wide with shock. The twin brother of her sworn enemy was the one who spread the rumors? _He_ was the one she had to kill? And, he was an _S-class_?! Edana slightly opened her mouth, like she wanted to speak. It was a moment before she found her voice. "Senryaku? Sentarou?" she asked.

Joshu nodded his head. "Yes, my lady. Sir Sentarou started the rumors, and he is the only one left alive right now…"

His charge turned her back to him as she contemplated this new information. She wasn't _near_ S-class level. How could she ever hope to win against him? Not only that, but did she even have the motivation?

Her friends had thought that she was full of conflicting emotions. What she was actually thinking about after she had recovered were her parents. Did she ever know them? Why couldn't she remember? Were they the reason she was referred to as a lady? Did they leave her all the money and the estate? No, that couldn't be… she acquired the mansion she lived in now with Joshu… Were they even_ alive_?

Edana once again thought of these questions. Maybe _Joshu_ would know… No, he couldn't. How could he? He was a servant… Now, what about the problem at hand? How could she hope to defeat an S-class? A sigh escaped her mouth. Maybe she could escape with her life…

Once again, she sighed, and then she scratched her head in frustration. Oh, what a predicament!! But, then again… If she didn't even know where she came from, did she know who she was? What if she didn't even exist? …She could die honorably in combat… Then, she wouldn't have to worry about her existence. And there would be nobody to suspect, after all, she _had_ challenged an S-class demon.

She turned back around to face Joshu. She had made up her mind. "We're going home to rest. Tomorrow, we will challenge him."

(change of scene, it's the next morning)

Joshu once again begged to his lady, "Please reconsider, Lady Edana! This is sheer foolishness!" he pleaded, trying to hide behind his master as they walked through the forest that held Sentarou's castle.

Edana stopped; and Joshu ran into her and fell on his butt. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Are you frightened of the C-class demons in the forest?"

Joshu shook his head. "That is not it, my lady."

"Then, you doubt my decision? Do you wish to defy me?"

Joshu shook his head again. "That is not the reason either, my lady." He jumped to his feet. "I merely think this is a bit too rash. Should we not do some research on him, first?" he asked, dusting his butt off.

"It's simple. I go in, take his head, and walk out. What seems rash about that?" she asked facing forward again and continuing on. Joshu rolled his eyes at his lady's bluntness. How could she say that with a straight face? Then, he followed her.

She stopped again, with narrowed eyes. "Joshu!" she barked. He stopped as well. "Follow me, but stay hidden in the brush." He nodded and scurried off to hide in the midst of the bushes and trees.

Edana continued to walk once again. She headed straight for a clearing, in which stood an exact copy of Senryaku. "I see you were foolish enough to come after me." He called to her.

She called back, "Yeah, well, I couldn't risk looking like a coward. And the thought of killing _another_ Senryaku seemed just too appealing to me." Edana assumed a fighting stance. "Let's just fight and see who lives."

"I see." Sentarou sneered. "Then you are a fool." He also assumed a fighting stance. "I doubt you will even last a minute."

Edana narrowed her eyes. His stance was one she had never seen before, and she had seen many styles. He stood almost as straight as a rod, but his right palm was straight out facing her. Was it a trap?

'_One way to find out.'_ she thought. Then, she charged, and Sentarou sneered. Was that a bad move? "HAH!" he shouted, locking eyes with her. She froze in mid-step. "I never thought you would fall for _that_ trick." He laughed as he walked over to her.

Edana was shocked. He was coming for her. Damnit, why wouldn't her body move?! MOVE! With shock, she realized she was fully paralyzed. "Stand at attention!" he ordered. Without her telling it to, her body moved and stood at attention. "Good." He smirked. Then, he noticed something and looked down. She snarled inwardly. _'You better not even think of having your way with me!' _"That's a mighty fine sword you have, there. Hand it over to me."

Once again, her body moved without her consent. It handed him her sword. _'Damnit! That's my sword! Give it back!'_ He took it and unsheathed it. "Great quality steel, nice form, the sheathe is made of good material. Now, where did you come up with the money for this?" he asked. "Never mind. You couldn't tell me if you wanted to, anyway. Oh! Look! A silver dragon design on the hilt! It has a likeness to your name. Did you have this specially crafted?" Damn, this guy sure loved to hear his own voice. "I wonder how much it would hurt if you were killed by your own sword?"

Edana mentally snarled again. Oh, well. This was the end she had planned anyway, right? She would die in a battle with an S-class demon. No more worrying about her own existence. Just then, Joshu stepped out into the open. He shouted, "Give that back to her! That's the Ginryu family heirloom, and her rightful property!"

"Oh? You brought a little helper?" Sentarou snickered. Then he called to Joshu, "This sword is mine, now. And after I use it to slaughter your little missy here, you're next."

Joshu stood his ground. "You couldn't kill Lady Edana. But if you hurt her, then _I_ will have to take her place…" he snapped.

Edana forced her eyes to look to the side at her servant. This was the first time he hadn't acted like a coward when there was a demon only _she_ could handle. And he had pointed out the sword. '_Joshu_…' she thought in awe.

"I can, and will, kill her. And, do you really think you could stand a chance against me?" Sentarou demanded.

Edana thought of how sad her friends would be if she died in a place like this. She couldn't let them all down. And she also thought of how the other guys would react. Yusuke would probably say she wasn't that strong after all. Kuwabara would say something sexist like girls shouldn't be fighting anyway. Kurama would be kind and sincere like he always was. And Hiei? Hiei would call her a stupid woman and probably say she was better off dead.

For some reason, Hiei's reaction was the most infuriating. Nobody had ever _dared_ to insult her to her face, and he did it outright. If she survived, it wouldn't be just because she didn't want her friends to be sad. It would be so she could at least make life hell for him. Maybe earn his respect.

Edana's rage grew until it filled her entire body. And the sudden urge to tear things to pieces once again welled up in her. It was the power, again. Like last time, it wasn't unpleasant, either. The spell Sentarou had put on her shattered as easily as ice in the spring.

Once again, she glowed silver and transformed into the silver dragon. The sun glistened on her scales, and her eyes flashed. Sentarou had backed up in terror from her sudden metamorphosis. She was deadly. He was going to die. Somehow, he sensed this and darted into the trees to hide. Maybe she wouldn't find him… Alas, Edana's new reptilian eyes could see. They could see his energy, his _youki_. She reached out her large claw and snatched him from his hiding place. He struggled fruitlessly.

She snarled and bared her fangs at him before swallowing Sentarou whole; but not without a few painful chews, first. After she swallowed, her anger and rage ebbed and she felt normal, again. The power, with no use anymore, disappeared and she returned to her normal form.

Edana sighed, and retrieved her katana. Then, she noticed Joshu sitting on the ground, dumbstruck. She laughed and started over to him. "What's the matter, Joshu? Did you piss your pants?"

Joshu's reply was an undecipherable mumble. Finally, he got to his feet. "I-I didn't know you could change into a dragon!" he stammered. "That was amazing!"

Edana scratched her neck, "To tell you the truth, I didn't know it myself until recently…" she admitted.

"You've inherited your father's blood after all…" he gasped, awestruck.

Edana looked sharply at him. "What about my father?" she demanded. Joshu quickly covered his mouth. "Joshu."

Joshu said quickly, "I-I cannot speak of it! It was an order! And I must follow it!" he apologized. After he calmed down, he looked her straight in the eyes and said, "But that katana you hold there, it was your father's. He gave it to you as a part of your inheritance."

"Is that why I'm referred to as 'Lady' Edana?" she asked, staring at her katana affectionately.

"Yes, My Lady." Joshu bowed. "You are Lady Edana Ginryu, heiress to the Ginryu estate, and your father's sword."

"Hey! If I inherited an estate, then why did you help me acquire the mansion we live in now?! What happened to the first one?!" she demanded.

Joshu smiled nervously, "Also part of the order." He sweatdropped. "I can't tell you."

"Dammit, Joshu! Tell me!"

(later...)

A while later, Edana had taken in all of Sentarou's servants and said, if they had wanted, she would shelter them. They had all followed her home, and were given a place to sleep. (She was pissed at the poor treatment of his slaves. And many of them were women.) Joshu beamed at his lady's benevolence.

Later, after the servants had been taken care of, Edana went to Joshu's quarters to confront him. "I'm going back to the Ningenkai. If you wish, you may accompany me there." She said to him, sitting down in one of his chairs.

Joshu grinned. "Of course, my Lady. My job is, after all, to serve you." He paused for a moment. "But why back to Ningenkai? Is there something I should know?"

Edana rolled her eyes in annoyance and proceeded to tell her second in command everything that had happened during the time she spent in the Ningenkai. She explained her turning human, and the dragon transformation. Joshu listened intently, and seemed to know more about her than he was letting on. "So, if you're coming with me, who's going to watch the estate?"

"I should be able to find someone." He assured her. "There are plenty of servants indebted to you and would loyally watch the estate for you."

"Well, then. I'll leave that up to you." Edana stated, getting up to leave. "Oh, and you might as well pack your favorite weapons. There will be fights."

"I was anyway." He snickered. "After all, you always seem to get yourself into trouble."

"Hey!"

Edana and Joshu, with their packs hung over their shoulders, walked up the steps to Genkai's temple. Once they reached the top, Edana was attacked by her friends. "Hey! You weren't supposed to be back for a month!!!"

"Who's the guy you're with?"

"Did something happen?"

Edana smirked and said, "Whaaat? Were you worried about me?"

Sakura crossed her arms huffily and said, "Of course not." Kiechara and Shadou bonked her on the head simultaneously.

Shadou and Kiechara finished scolding Sakura and turned to their friend once again. "But, you weren't supposed to be back for a month. Why did you come back after hardly three days?"

Edana thought about her answer for a moment, and smiled. "I was homesick."

_**(FDJ: WOOT! I finally introduced Joshu!! Heh heh, and he's still the same spineless coward as ever…**_

_**Joshu: Hey!(pouts)**_

_**Edana: She's right…(smirking)**_

_**FDJ: Yeah, I invited Edana and Joshu over for tea. **_

_**Joshu: Invited?! You threatened us with deletion!**_

_**FDJ: (9.9) Did I? (angelic background) Anyways, please review! I love reviews! They make me feel happy! And they make my OC's happy, too! (hides a chainsaw behind her back)**_

_**Edana and Joshu: (sweat) P-p-please review…)**_


End file.
